by Veronica Smith

The 2015 Oregon Legislative session has been an exciting session to witness.  Watching Kate Brown sworn in was a historical event, and the legislature was busy on a number of important issues, such as lowering carbon emissions, background checks for gun purchases, increasing the education funding, and increasing the minimum wage.  A Washington D.C. based research group published a report about state transparency, and gave Oregon an A-; making Oregon a leader in legislative transparency. [i]  The Oregon Legislature is a complex organ that requires a lot of different parts working together in order to perform efficiently.  This paper focuses on the different processes that are necessary for a properly function legislative process, as well as the informal procedures that aid in pushing legislation along.Read More »