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Happy New Year!

FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2025

How Oregon’s 2026 Laws Are Set to Reach Southern Oregon Households By John Oliver When the calendar turns to January 1, 2026, a wide package of new Oregon laws will quietly begin reshaping daily life across the state, including in Southern Oregon, where rising costs, housing pressure, and access to services often feel sharper than in urban corridors. While the measures were passed during the 2025 legislative session in Salem, their effects will be felt in grocery lines, rental offices, medical billing statements, and even at the ticket window for concerts and community events. The legislation, summarized in a recent Democratic leadership press release and examined by multiple news outlets statewide, focuses on four broad areas: hidden consumer costs, tenant protections, health care access, and personal safety. Together, they represent an attempt by state lawmakers to provide stability and predictability at a time when federal policy remains uncertain and economic pressures continue to weigh heavily on working families. For Southern Oregon residents, particularly those in Josephine, Jackson, and surrounding rural counties, the emphasis on transparency and protections reflects long-standing concerns about affordability and fairness in a region where wages often lag behind statewide averages while housing and utility costs continue to climb. At the heart of the new consumer laws is an effort to rein in so-called hidden fees. These

Shielding the State

are the charges that appear only at checkout, whether for concert tickets, rental applications, or certain services, inflating prices beyond what consumers reasonably expect. Statewide reporting has confirmed that new rules will require clearer, upfront pricing and restrict certain speculative ticket resale practices that have driven up costs for live events. In Southern Oregon, where community concerts, regional fairs, and seasonal tourism play an important economic and cultural role, these changes are intended to ensure residents are not priced out of their own local events by opaque fee structures. Housing protections are another major component. While the laws do not impose new rent caps, they expand tenant rights related to fees, notices, and screening practices. In smaller markets like Grants Pass and Medford, where rental supply is tight and vacancy rates remain low, even modest application or administrative fees can add up quickly for families living paycheck to paycheck. By standardizing

and clarifying what landlords can charge and how those charges must be disclosed, lawmakers are aiming to reduce friction and surprise costs in an already strained housing environment. Health care access remains a central theme, particularly in rural communities where provider shortages and travel distances already limit options. News coverage indicates that the 2026 laws reinforce state-level commitments to Medicaid access, medical debt protections, and insurance standards that go beyond federal minimums. For Southern Oregon residents who rely on regional hospitals and clinics that serve large geographic areas, these protections are designed to prevent coverage gaps and limit the long-term financial damage caused by unexpected medical bills. The political framing behind the legislation is explicit in the press release, which positions Oregon’s actions as a response to instability at the national level. Senate Majority Lead-

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er Kayse Jama said, “The laws taking effect in 2026 show Oregon leaders stepping up for working families by protecting consumers, widening access to health care, and keeping people safe, even as the federal government prioritizes tax breaks for huge corporations and grows more hostile to everyday people.” While the language is partisan, the underlying policy goal is clear: to create a state-level safety net that remains intact regardless of changes in Washington, D.C. House Majority Leader Ben Bowman echoed the cost-of-living focus, stating, “Oregon families are being squeezed by rising costs, and these new laws will help people afford everything from rent to concert tickets to medical care. Oregonians shouldn't get stuck paying hidden costs just to live their lives.” For Southern Oregon, where economic shocks from wildfire seasons, tourism swings, and agricultural cycles can be sudden and severe, predictability in everyday expenses can be as important as direct financial assistance. Beyond consumers and tenants, several of the 2026 laws touch on personal safety and workplace fairness. State reporting has highlighted new limits on telemarketing practices, strengthened accountability for unpaid construction labor, and additional oversight tied to utility rate increases. These measures may not grab headlines individually, but collectively they shape the regulatory environment for small businesses and workers across the region, particularly in construction, service industries, and utilities that form the backbone of many Southern Oregon communities. What the press release does not spell out, but local reporting makes clear, is that these

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see OREGON'S, page 5

A New Year, A Full Heart, And One Incredible Community By John Oliver As this New Year’s Eve edition of the Grants Pass Tribune reaches you today, the final hours of the year are ticking away, kitchens are filling with familiar smells, plans are coming together, and Southern Oregon is doing what it does best, settling in with neighbors, friends, family, and a hopeful glance toward tomorrow. Before the ball drops and the calendar turns, I wanted to pause for just a moment and say something that never gets old but never feels big enough either, “thank you!” This past year has surpassed every expectation we ever dared to set. What began as a local paper built on curiosity, persistence, and a deep belief in community storytelling has grown faster and farther than we could have imagined. In the last year alone our DR Rating (Domain Ranking) climbed from 18 to 27, a milestone that may sound technical but represents something very real, trust, credibility, and reach. Even more astonishing is the steady increase in readership, averaging about 1.2 million additional readers every quarter. For a newspaper rooted in a town of roughly 40,000 people, that kind of growth is not just rare, it is extraordinary. What makes this achievement even more meaningful is how it happened. We have never

paid for advertising. There were no marketing campaigns, no boosted posts, no shortcuts. Every click, every share, every comment, every reader who told a friend or forwarded a story made this possible. This growth was entirely organic and powered by you. The readers, the contributors, the quiet supporters, the outspoken critics, the people who show up daily and the ones who drop in once a week, all of you are the reason this paper continues to grow. As we step into 2026, we do so without a

crystal ball but with a clear sense of purpose. Like many of you, we hope the political circus that has dominated so much oxygen begins to wind down. While accountability will always matter and public scrutiny will never disappear from our pages, our heart has always been rooted elsewhere. We want to tell the stories of local heroes who have never been recognized, the small businesses you drive past every day but have never truly met, the people quietly doing good work without a spotlight. We are also opening the door even wider in

the year ahead. In recent weeks you may have noticed more contributing writers sharing their voices, their perspectives, and their passions. We want more of that. If you have a story, an opinion, a personal experience, or even a critique of this paper or of me personally, send it in. We will publish it. We may clean up grammar and punctuation, but we will not silence a viewpoint simply because we disagree with it. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not slogans here, they are commitments. So, as tonight unfolds, whether you are celebrating loudly, quietly, or simply grateful to make it through another year, we wish you a safe and happy New Year. Thank you for trusting us, challenging us, supporting us, and growing with us. From the bottom of our hearts, here’s to 2026 and to the stories still waiting to be told.