Help for small cities in financial limbo

By Alex Baumhardt | Senior reporter

After a city in his district temporarily shut down several of its parks because it couldn’t pay for their maintenance, state Rep. Paul Evans, a Democrat from Monmouth, is proposing that the Legislature create a fund to provide small Oregon cities with emergency financial assistance to keep community spaces open.

Evans said ballot measures that voters passed in the 1990s setting limits on property taxes and how they’re assessed has been catastrophic for Oregon cities and counties struggling to pay for needed infrastructure and services, and an emergency fund could provide stop-gap relief.

“The underlying need for comprehensive, thoughtful revenue reform is long past due, and we’re living with the consequences,” he told reporter Mia Maldonado, “and right now, I’m trying to put a Band-aid on a bleeding chest wound.”

Also in today's edition:

Oregon takes a second whack at a state-backed website for buying health insurance.
USPS whistleblower predicts ‘catastrophic’ effec of Trump vote-by-mail order on elections.
Our Stateline reporter learning about prescribed burns shares final thoughts, photos.
Federal government unlikely to shutdown this fall as U.S. House passes stopgap funding.
A judge blocked New York’s ‘climate Superfund’ law, modeled on the federal Superfund program, saying it would unlawfully regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

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Oregon lawmaker to propose financial support for small cities left in financial limbo

By Mia Maldonado

Riverview Park in Independence, Ore., pictured here, was nearly closed in August due the city’s lack of maintenance funding. It was reopened after the nonprofit Friends of Community Parks provided an emergency grant. (Photo courtesy of the City of Independence).

After a city in his district temporarily shut down several of its parks because it couldn’t pay for their maintenance, a Democratic state lawmaker is proposing the Legislature create a fund that would provide small Oregon cities with emergency financial assistance to keep community spaces open.

Oregon to launch new Explore Health state health insurance marketplace in coming months

By Shaanth Nanguneri

Medical supplies at a clinic in Portland on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Photo by Rian Dundon/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

In less than 10 weeks, Oregonians who buy their health insurance on a federal website will be able to turn to a new state-backed platform to shop for coverage, determine if they qualify for financial assistance and enroll in a plan.

Photo essay: Communities embrace fire to protect against out-of-control blazes

By Alex Brown, Stateline

A crew member ignites a forested area with a drip torch as part of a prescribed burn near the town of Roslyn, Washington. (Photo by Alex Brown/Stateline)

ROSLYN, Wash. — In less than an hour, this hillside will be ablaze — sparks flying, smoke swirling, the forest floor turning into a black carpet.

That’s all part of the plan.

Here in the small town of Roslyn, Washington, local leaders have embraced prescribed burns as a tool to protect their community from wildfires. They’re part of a growing effort across the West to empower residents to lead burns on private lands.