March 2022 - Page 6

 Secretary of State Shemia Fagan on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon government loses more than $500 million each year to a housing tax break that mostly helps wealthy white homeowners in urban areas, state auditors said Wednesday. The mortgage interest deduction is the state’s largest housing subsidy, said Secretary

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting It has been a subject of discussion in Salem for years: Centrist Democrats are becoming harder to find. Moderate state lawmakers have departed in droves in recent elections, complaining their voices are increasingly drowned out amid Democratic supermajorities dominated by progressives — particularly in the House. Their seats have often been filled by more liberal

 Bins of ballot envelopes wait for processing in Multnomah County on Oct. 22, 2020. (Motoya Nakamura/Multnomah County) By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle County election offices around Oregon will soon get additional money to replace old election equipment and buy postal barcode scanners to comply with a new state law requiring that ballots dropped in the mail on Election Day be

 At Alsea Middle and High School, students will no longer be required to wear masks, defying state orders. (Wikimedia Commons) By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle The decision by the Alsea School Board to make masks optional for students and staff a month before the state ended masks mandates will cost the district $43,000, according to the state Occupational Safety and

 The VA center in Portland is located next to Oregon Health & Science University. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) By LYNNE TERRY/Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon veterans would get better and in some cases faster medical care under a restructuring proposed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Released Monday, the plan would modernize health care facilities in Oregon and southwest

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon won’t join other states in considering a pause to state gas taxes, for now, according to Charles Boyle, deputy communications officer for Gov. Kate Brown. Legislators in more than a dozen states are proposing temporary gas tax holidays or rebates to counter the rising cost of fuel for individual consumers and businesses.