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More than 100 years ago, Multnomah and Clark Counties paid $1.7 million dollars to build the northbound span of the Interstate-5 Bridge connecting Vancouver to Portland. That bridge still stands today. On this week’s OPB Politics now we’ll talk about the latest push underway to replace the bridge and whether the politics will get in the way.

Homelessness remains a key issue across Oregon and new rules governing how, when and where people can sleep outdoors are racing toward approval. On this week’s new episode of OPB Politics Now, we hear how new tent camping bans are playing out across the state.

On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden chats with OPB's Lillian Karabaic about the semiconductor industry, the debt ceiling fight and Damian Lillard's future in Portland.

The Republican walkout in the Oregon state senate hit a critical point this week. On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, Dirk VanderHart and Lauren Dake discuss whether the Legislative session is over, the personality conflicts at play between rivals in Salem and much more.

You're forgiven if you haven't voted yet, and you're in good company with the vast majority of registered Oregonians. On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, Tiffany Camhi and Alex Zielinski discuss the sleepy election before next year's main event.

On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart discuss the latest Republican walkout and what it may mean for pending legislation in Salem, the lawmakers who are nearing their 10th unexcused absence and much more.

Shemia Fagan was supposed to be the next Democratic star in Oregon politics, but now she's about to be out of office due to a spectacularly fast moving scandal in Salem. On the latest OPB Politics Now, reporters Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart talk about Fagan's rise to prominence and sudden resignation as Secretary of State.

On this week’s episode of OPB Politics Now, we discuss Phil Knight’s $400 million gift to a new investment fund that aims to benefit Black Portlanders. Also, we discuss the history of campaign finance reform in Oregon.

In 2020, Portland City Council promised millions for a new racial justice group formed to help Black Portlanders. Last week it appeared the city would renege on its promise to Reimagine Oregon. On this week’s show, we examine why the city changed course at the last second, why the budget proposal prompted outrage and what it means for the city’s relationships with communities of color.

It's been a complicated week for people tracking access to abortion services. On this week's show, we explain what recent court rulings mean in Oregon and Washington.

State legislators have sent the governor a big piece of legislation aimed at attracting more semiconductor production. On this week's show, we'll examine the tools they'll use to do that -- and the broader philosophical choices they're making about Oregon land use policy.

Oregon lawmakers have been so busy this session working up major packages on housing and semiconductors that the two parties have barely had time to fight over the issues that most bitterly divide them. That changed this week, as Democrats called up three bills that would expand gun regulation in the state. OPB reporters Dirk VanderHart and Jonathan Levinson break them down on the new episode.

It’s very possible Oregon state government has never been as focused on housing and homelessness as it is at this moment. The state’s housing shortage is acute. The number of people without homes is swelling. Oregon's new governor, Tina Kotek, is successfully pushing lawmakers to pass major funding and policy changes a little more than two months after taking office. But cities are saying they are at risk of actually losing shelter space.

On this week's show, we catch you up on a hectic week in Oregon politics. Among the news: Portland struggles to find homeless camp sites, Oregon loses its chief financial officer and state lawmakers look at ways to help prevent organized shoplifting.

Oregon leaders are pushing local governments to build more affordable housing and to build it quickly. But on this week's episode of OPB Politics Now, we’re going to look at the realities of actually managing that housing once it's built. We have a case study in how hard that can be: Portland’s Milepost 5. It started as an artist’s dream – but is now embroiled in a class-action lawsuit.

On this special bonus episode of OPB Politics Now, the team at Think Out Loud sits down with Gov. Tina Kotek to talk about her first two months on the job.

Oregon lawmakers have begun revealing their plan for solving the state’s housing crisis. It’s going to require a big philosophical shift in how Oregon thinks about its land. On this week's show, we examine Oregon’s half-century old land use system and why even progressives' are now saying it’s time to make it easier to build here.

On this week's show, we'll explain new Portland Commissioner Rene Gonzalez's decision to stop letting his bureaus hand out to tents to people sleeping outside. And we'll bring you the latest fallout in the state liquor commission's rare bourbon scandal.

On this week's show, we'll explain the unfurling scandal over rare alcohol and how state regulators may have abused their access. And we'll look at the growing call for changes in how Oregon spends cannabis taxes under Measure 110, the historic drug decriminalization law.

On this week's show, OPB political reporters Dirk VanderHart and Lauren Dake explain why Oregon legislators exempt from a state law banning public officials from hiring family members -- and why one influential Democrat wants to change that this session.