In the news

Statesman-Journal: Senate president reports Hood to Coast success

August 30, 2010

The two-day, 197-mile running relay from Mount Hood to Seaside known as Hood to Coast has concluded for another year.

Senate President Peter Courtney ran the event for the 16th time, just a year after hip replacement surgery.

"Well, I'm stiff, but I feel better than I've ever felt after Hood to Coast," Courtney said Sunday evening.

Statesman-Journal: Senate president credited for animal-rights legislation

August 22, 2010

The pet dachshund of Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, has died.

But Yoda was the apparent inspiration for a series of bills that are now part of Oregon's law books.

Yoda became part of the Courtney household a decade ago.

Statesman-Journal: Annual sessions will go to voters on ballot

February 26, 2010

A 25-day session of Oregon lawmakers ended Thursday after Democratic majorities, with votes from a few Republicans, sent a reworked annual-sessions ballot measure to voters ...

Lawmakers passed about 100 of the 211 bills introduced, including a budget-balancing package that became necessary after a $170 million shortfall projected on Feb. 8. But there was less argument about the two-year budget, which passed quickly once legislative budget writers finished their work Monday, than about the perennial issue of annual sessions.

Oregonian: Oregon Legislature gavels out, sends annual session measure to voters

February 25, 2010

SALEM -- The Oregon Legislature wrapped up its February session Thursday with Democratic leaders boasting they had protected schools from more cutbacks and helped families hit hard by the recession, while Republicans chafed about rushed decisions.

The House and Senate finished well ahead of their Feb. 28 deadline. The final gavels fell after they passed budget bills that guaranteed schools the full $6 billion lawmakers promised last year and after they struck an uneasy compromise over annual meetings.

Salem News: Annual Session Referral Approved by Senate in Bipartisan Vote

February 17, 2010

(SALEM, Ore.) - The Senate voted this morning to send a referral to voter’s asking them to approve one of the most important changes to the Oregon’s constitution since statehood with a 24-6 vote. Senate Joint Resolution would place on the November 2010 ballot a constitutional amendment requiring the Legislature to meet yearly for limited-length sessions.

Statesman-Journal: Budget weighs on legislators' minds

January 31, 2010

It's still the economy — and budget — stupid. Although Oregon lawmakers will not have to wrestle with potential spending cuts of as much as $727 million in their session beginning Monday, still-sagging tax collections and soaring demand for unemployment benefits, human services and college scholarships will compel them to deal with a version of Bill Clinton's mantra from his 1992 presidential campaign.