Senate panel adopts narrowed SB 686 amendment to create arbitration, payment paths for Oregon news outlets

The Senate Committee on Rules on Wednesday adopted the A‑9 amendment to Senate Bill 686, the Oregon Journalism Protection Act, advancing the measure to the full Senate with a due‑pass recommendation.

The amendment narrows the bill to regulate non‑expressive commercial conduct by covered online platforms that access and monetize digital journalism providers’ content for Oregon audiences without written agreements. It gives platforms three compliance paths: negotiate written agreements with providers, submit to a final arbitration to determine compensation, or make a time‑limited lump‑sum payment into a fund distributed to journalism providers.

Senator Duy‑Pham, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the A‑9 was drafted after consultations with legislative counsel and outside counsel to address constitutional concerns. “This amendment is now targeted at non‑expressive conduct,” she said. “A covered platform is presumed to be engaging in an unfair trade practice if the platform is accessing the online content of a digital journalism provider for the purposes of monetizing that online content without a written agreement between those parties.”

The amendmen…