Rebates for buying an electric vehicle will be suspended in Oregon. Learn more here.

By The Associated Press

Oregon will temporarily suspend rebates for buying or leasing an electric vehicle for a year starting in May.

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon will temporarily suspend rebates for buying or leasing an electric vehicle for a year starting in May because too many people are applying and the program is running out of money, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Thursday.

A growing number of Oregonians are buying or leasing electric vehicles, with over 60,600 registered in the state.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday…

Oregon Democratic Gov., Tina Kotek, will focus on affordable housing and combatting homelessness. Learn more here.

By CLAIRE RUSH/Associated Press/Report for America

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s newly sworn-in Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed three executive orders intended to combat homelessness on her first full day in office Tuesday, a sign of how critical the shortage of affordable housing has become in the state and across the nation.

The orders call for boosting construction and marshaling resources to help the nearly 18,000 people living outside in Oregon.

Advocates welcomed the measures. But they said that shoring up mental health and addiction services must also occur in order to help people move off the street.

Just last year, Oregon lawmakers…

The sale of gasoline-powered passenger vehicles will be prohibited by 2035. Learn more here.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Policymakers for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Monday approved a rule that prohibits the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in Oregon by 2035.

The effort comes as Oregon plans to cut climate-warming emissions by 50% by 2035 and by 90% by 2050, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon.

The rule is based on vehicle emission standards California adopted in August. The standards require car manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles — electric cars, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles — as part…

English, science and math proficiency scores in Oregon dropped dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to numbers released by the Oregon Department of Education Thursday morning looking at state assessment results.

School districts in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties did not buck the trend. Some were able to note achievements in specific categories and even, in some cases, finishing above state averages.

Oregon Department of Education officials say 2022 testing shows students who were already behind before the pandemic had the most learning loss but all children overall lost ground when compared to 2019 test scores.

A new renewable energy plant, and the first of its kind, is being commissioned in Lexington, OR. Learn more about it here.

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.

The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced…

Oregon is the first state to receive aid for mobile mental-health units. Learn more here.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced financial support for expansion of mobile mental-health crisis intervention units in Oregon, the first state to receive the aid.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said prioritizing behavioral health treatment by putting crisis care in reach for more Americans is critical, in Oregon and beyond.

He encouraged all states to take advantage of this opportunity.

The new Medicaid-supported plan will allow Oregon to provide community-based stabilization services to individuals experiencing mental health…