It’s unclear if the measure has the time or support to pass in Salem by the end of this year’s short legislative session.
The decades-long plight of a Black legislative employee wrongfully accused of financial impropriety during his time battling the influence of oil companies in Salem has lit a flame under an unusual bipartisan duo of Oregon lawmakers.
Reps. Ed Diehl, R-Scio and Travis Nelson, D-Portland, two of the Capitol’s prominent conservative and progressive lawmakers, announced Wednesday that they would be introducing a legislative fix to begin the process of compensating Robert Parker Jr., an attorney and former legislative aide from the 1980s whose career was derailed by allegations of misusing his position in the Capitol for financial gain. Former Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity and former Sen. Dennis Linthicum, R-Beatty, as well as Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, joined Parker, Diehl and Nelson at a Wednesday news conference…