May 31st - Significant Vote on Camping Code in Portland

On Wednesday, May 31st, at 2:30 PM the Portland City Council will vote on an emergency ordinance intended to curtail unsheltered homelessness and dangerous public camping in Portland.   Item 451 on the agenda.

SB 337: Oregon Public Defense Funding

Senate Bill 337 will overhaul long-troubled public defender system

Oregon's system of providing public defense could be in for a long-overdue overhaul. SB 337 proposes to hire a new state employee cadre of public defense lawyers and sets benchmarks for state lawyers to handle 20% of cases by 2031 and 30% of cases by 2035. Oregon is the only state in the nation to rely entirely on private attorney contracts to provide legal defense for those who can't afford a lawyer. District Attorneys, law enforcement, and elected leaders often point to these public defense shortages as a major reason for delays and crimes not being fully prosecuted.  

A 2019 report to the legislature, written by the Sixth Amendment Center, found a host of systemic problems. The most notable issues with private attorney contracts were a general lack of oversight and a compensation system which rewards speed and volume instead of accuracy and justice.  "This compensation plan creates an incentive for attorneys to handle as many cases as possible and to do so as quickly as possible, rather than focusing on their ethical duty of achieving the client's case-related goals," the draft report states.

"Yet the state of Oregon has no mechanism to know whether it's fulfilling its obligation to provide counsel to the poor who face incarceration in the justice and municipal courts," the draft report states.

The bill also makes major changes to the Commission who oversees Oregon's system, which has long relied upon private attorneys working on contracts for indigent defense. The bill will increase resources and oversight for those additional contracts.   is a broad overview of the The Senate Committee on Rules will hold a special work session on this legislation on May 18th at 3pm.

Full summary for HB 337 is available here.

"Oregon lawmakers consider bill to overhaul public defense system", The Oregonian, April 3rd, 2023 

HB 3501 Not Advancing, Public Hearing Cancelled

HB 3501 - Right to Rest bill will not advance

The 2023 Right to Rest bill will go no further in the Oregon legislature. After a major outpouring of opposition, House leadership announced that the bill would not be heard and many went out of their way to oppose it. Due to an overwhelming response from those opposed to the bill, such as from many RPC members, the House Majority Leader then had to cancel the public hearing as well. While the public hearing was intended for "discussion" about the concept, the overwhelming opposition caused it to be cancelled. Read RPC's email update.

"Oregon legislators cancel hearing on 'right to rest' homelessness bill after uproar," The Oregonian, May 2nd, 2023

"HB 3501 is not moving forward this session — it's been "dead" since the 1st legislative deadline in March. Nevertheless, it's generated a lot of attention recently. I personally do not support the policy in the bill & I agree with the decision to cancel the hearing" - Rep. Julie Fahey