First take/session

Oregon legislative days for this month are cranking in, with what’s looking like a preview of the regular session in February. What’s on deck? The loud protests calling for a statewide raise in the minimum wage (which otherwise isn’t slated to be raised this cycle) are getting top attention, and seem to be the leading Democratic issue. Representative Brian Clem had a useful comment about it, though: “Inside the building, the noise will probably be about minimum wage. I see it as rural versus urban — can we have one statewide minimum wage policy?” Or put another way, is there a way to separate it out? Other hot topics mentioned more by Republicans are led by PERS – which will be a big budget topic in the next biennium – and transport funding. Whatever else, the next session is likely to be devoted to very practical matters. – rs