A novel proposal that would mandate tech companies to pay local journalism outlets for using their news content failed to gain steam in its first floor vote in the Oregon Senate on Tuesday, effectively killing its chance to pass this year.
Lawmakers on Tuesday voted 15-14 against Senate Bill 686, introduced in January, which aims to regulate tech companies and social media platforms like Google and Meta that aggregate, publish and use news content for their feeds or algorithms to provide information to users. Four Democrats were in opposition.
“Does anybody honestly believe these companies are going to just write the check and keep doing business as usual here?” Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, asked his colleagues Tuesday before voting against the legislation. “No, they will stop sharing news content in Oregon all together, just like they did in Canada.”
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The effort at enacting the nation’s most stringent rules regulating journalism content and reproduction has also met a mounting resistance from tech companies. Meta, for instance, has threatened to remove Oregon news from their platforms altogether if the bill passes, echoing its position in Canada where a similar law was passed in 2023.
The vote against the bill was followed by a motion by Sen. Kayse Jama, D-Portland, to send the bill back to the Senate Committee on Rules, where it was previously amended on June 11 in the face of legal concerns over regulation of private markets and the First Amendment.
But it’s unlikely that the bill will be revived, amended and passed out of committee and both chambers by Sunday, when Oregon’s legislative session ends. And the bill’s author, Sen. Khanh Phạm, D-Portland, told the Capital Chronicle that she will be reintroducing the bill in a future session, though she hasn’t decided when.
The original version of the legislation had three avenues for platforms to satisfy the legislation’s regulations: pay each accessed provider an unspecified amount, enter into an arbitration process, or donate to a university-backed public media board. The new bill preserves those pathways but heightens the protections news outlets have if their content is used without an agreement with an online platform.
Under the legislation, companies like Apple, Google and Meta could pay tens of millions of dollars into a state fund that would support news outlets throughout the state, based on their size and the number of journalists they employ. Firms like Google, Instagram and Facebook could pay into a central fund that is doled out to different newsrooms based on size, paying $104 million annually if they have six billion or more monthly active users worldwide, or $18 million annually if they have fewer than six billion worldwide users.
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One-tenth of that money would go to the Oregon Civic Information Consortium, a proposed board under the purview of the University of Oregon that would help train future journalists, offer grants to newsrooms and ensure funding for news deserts such as rural communities. The rest of the funding would go to newsrooms based on the number of employees and journalists they have; 70% of the funds must be spent on journalists and support staff by providers.
“We trust the people who work in this industry and whose vocation depends on freedom of the press to guide us on what they need,” Phạm said on the Senate floor, referencing the more than 50 Oregon newsrooms that have voiced support for the bill. “Now they need a fighting chance in an unfair market.”
The bill was amended in a June committee hearing, however, to address legal concerns about violating the First Amendment and regulating the free market, though lawmakers anticipate the untested measure would face a legal challenge anyway. The new version shifted the focus away from cracking down on social media and tech platforms, aiming instead to empower news outlets to create agreements with platforms for payment or face legal consequences.
Sen. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, warned his colleagues that the bill could unintentionally incentivize platforms to establish agreements with politically-biased media. He was also unsure if the bill would survive under legal scrutiny.
Under the new version of the legislation, online platforms could face lawsuits for damages from newsrooms if the companies accessed their content without a written agreement. The proposal would establish an arbitration process to decide what proportion of ad revenue a platform should dole out to newsrooms. The reworked bill also classifies the access and use of such content through aggregation, publishing and distribution without a formal agreement with an outlet as an unfair trade practice.
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Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, told his colleagues there was no avoiding the uncertainty the bill would pose in the courts. But, he asked, “Can you think of a significant law in the past that tries to solve a significant problem that hasn’t been litigated?”
Aside from Meek, the three other Democrats who voted in opposition to the bill were Sens. Kayse Jama, D-Portland, Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene and Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro. Jama reversed his position in order to be part of the prevailing majority against the bill, allowing him to call for the bill to be reconsidered and sent to committee. The one Republican who had expressed support for the legislation, Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, also voted against the bill.
Note: Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor Julia Shumway is board treasurer of the Greater Oregon Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which supports the bill referenced in this article. She did not participate in the editing of this item.
Correction: Sen. Khanh Phạm, D-Portland, has not decided on a date in which she will reintroduce the legislation. A previous version of this story reported that she would do so next session.
The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a $1.55 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
But they asked university leadership to return with an amended proposal by Dec. 15, when more details about future budget cuts will be known.
FILE — The Board of Trustees recently approved next year’s budget for the University of Oregon. The vote comes several weeks after the school’s president announced that he wants the university to reduce its annual budget as revenues and out-of-state enrollment decline.
Brian Bull / KLCC
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The vote comes several weeks after University of Oregon President Karl Scholz announced that he wants the school to reduce its annual budget by around $65 million.
At a trustees meeting Monday, Scholz said the estimated budget shortfall for next year is just around $23 million. But he said out-of-state enrollment is below historical norms for the second year in a row, and it’s unlikely to bounce back.
“One year can be an aberration. Two years is a pattern,” said Scholz. “And I believe we have to treat it as a new reality.”
Scholz said in May that discussions about the budget would happen over a six-month period. He said no final decisions about cuts would be made over this summer.
On Monday, UO Senate President Dyana Mason told trustees that the Senate had approved a new process to allow for community feedback in the cost-cutting process.
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Mason said the provost will work with the deans on budget proposals, finding “clear rationale” for why programs are considered for elimination.
The provost would then bring those proposals to the Senate Committee for Academic Modifications—which includes staff, faculty and students—for feedback.
Once the plans are nearly finalized, the Senate could then hold a period for public comment.
Mason told trustees that a six-month timeline is better than the three months that frustrated some staff last year, but she recommended taking however much time is necessary.
“The worst situation would be rushing forward to make decisions without appropriate evidence, data, feedback from the people that are most in the know about the impact on our students,” said Mason.
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UO’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda said that every week that university delays the decisions could cost them millions of dollars.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom.This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
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Oregon’s juvenile justice system has been reshaped in recent years by a sweeping reform law that changed how the state handles minors accused of serious crimes.
Senate Bill 1008, which took effect in 2020, ended automatic transfers of juveniles into adult court and eliminated life without parole sentences for juveniles. The law also created “second-look” hearings and established parole eligibility after 15 years for certain offenders who committed crimes before turning 18.
To help explain the law and its impact, KVAL’s Frannie Pedersen put together a timeline video tracing the history of Senate Bill 1008, from the passage of Measure 11 in 1994 to the reforms that later reshaped Oregon’s juvenile justice system.
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The video breaks down how the law changed, why lawmakers pushed for reform, and how SB 1008 continues to influence Oregon’s justice system today. Viewers can watch the full video for a detailed timeline and explanation of the changes.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A New Jersey man was sentenced to federal prison last Friday for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon.
Mark T. Eager, 34, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
“This defendant showed a blatant disregard for human life by trafficking fentanyl across the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Bradford. “My office will continue to pursue those who profit from poisoning our communities, and we will use every available resource and partnership to combat fentanyl trafficking and keep Oregonians safe.”
“This investigation brought together law enforcement agencies from across the nation,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Homeland Security Investigations special agents from Portland, Newark, and Houston contributed to the case, along with the Portland Police Bureau and HIDTA HIT officers, who were instrumental in identifying Eager. His 11-year sentence sends a clear message: no matter where you are in the country or the world, if you attempt to sell narcotics online to Americans, we will find you.”
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“Fentanyl trafficking poses a grave threat to communities across the United States, and Homeland Security Investigations is committed to working with our partners to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks responsible,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Lucia Cabral-DeArmas. “This case demonstrates the power of interagency collaboration under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, leveraging resources from across the country to hold traffickers accountable and protect the American people. We will continue to pursue those who endanger lives through the distribution of dangerous synthetic opioids, and we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard our communities from the violence and instability caused by transnational criminal organizations.”
“By following this offender’s digital trail, Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners nationwide executed federal search warrants, dismantled an active dark web fentanyl packaging operation and recovered deadly amounts of fentanyl, thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, and a trove of electronic devices and packaging materials,” said HSI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas. “This case is a powerful example of how coordinated, data-driven investigations can disrupt dangerous networks and help protect our communities from lethal synthetic opioids.”
According to court documents, from November 2023 through June 2024, Eager and his co-conspirator sold fentanyl on the Dark Net and Telegram. Eager operated as the vendor WRSEH10 and marketed the fentanyl as “China White Synthetic Heroin.”
In June 2024, HSI agents executed search warrants on two residences associated with Eager in Kearny, New Jersey, and seized over 360 grams of powdered fentanyl, counterfeit M30 pills, drug ledgers, cellular phones, two computers, and drug packaging consistent with three deliveries that were sent to Oregon.
On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a four-count indictment charging Eager with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl.
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On February 4, 2026, Eager pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
HSI Portland and HSI Houston investigated this case with assistance from HSI Newark, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Interdiction Task Force (HIT). Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey assisted the U.S. Attorney’s in Oregon in obtaining the search warrants that were executed in Kearny.
