A series of new laws expanded workforce programs through high schools, community colleges and apprenticeships.
A handful of new state labor laws will go into effect on Jan. 1. With the new laws, employers will be required to include salary and wage ranges on job postings, minimum wage will rise and millions will receive greater paid family leave.
If pay simply kept pace with inflation since the most recent raise in 1988, state senators would now make more than $30,000. Experts say that increasing pay could help diversify the Legislature, making it more like the people they represent.
Lawmakers passed nearly 120 bills this past legislative session and some of the highest-profile bills have already gone into effect. But 20 new laws, from workers’ compensation to victim restitution, start on Jan. 1.
Oregon has had an ambivalent relationship with the death penalty for decades. Meanwhile, tackling issues with blanket policies versus case-by-case, a Pennsylvania House dispute continues and odds and ends to close out the year.
The state is one of nine with a female governor and has elected its first female U.S. Senator. But women will make up only 17 percent of the Legislature next year. Alabama ranked 47th in female state legislators in 2022.
For the first time in the state’s upper house 245-year history, the six freshman legislators are all women. One of the women, Iwen Chu, will also be the first Asian American woman to hold a Senate seat.
Democrats have pushed relentlessly for policies that would reduce surging rates of gun violence in the state, but lawmakers joined conservatives to kill a last-minute gun control proposal.
Dozens of state laws that spanned issues involving paid family leave, school air quality, religious vaccine exemptions and the Juneteenth holiday took effect this past year. Here’s a look at some of the major changes.
Republican State House Rep. Jared Patterson has introduced a bill that would block residents under the age of 18 from creating a profile on social media sites, citing mental health and self-harm concerns.
A study from the Center for Legislative Accountability found that the state’s legislature voted conservatively in 74 percent of votes the report tracked. The 2023 legislative session will begin in March.
The newly elected Legislature will convene on Dec. 7 for the first time and will immediately face several big issues, including a long-awaited emergency heating and energy assistance package for state residents.
A new bill would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and limit gun accessibility for those under 21. A sweeping federal complaint has been filed in the state court system in the wake of the Highland Park shooting.
The new district lines would center the city in three assembly districts, instead of the current five. The commission wants to create districts with roughly the same population sizes, without unnecessarily splitting cities.
More voters were willing to support both Republicans and Democrats than they had been for years. But while many made different choices for governor and Senate, most voted for one party or the other pretty much down the line.
Black lawmakers started getting elected to the state Legislature in the 1960s, but the General Assembly has been mostly composed of white lawmakers. Next year, at least 83 of the 236 members will be nonwhite.
Most Read
