Hard to read? Oregon GOP boycott comes down to reading level

By ED KOMENDA and ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Republicans who have blocked bills about abortion, gun control and gender-affirming health care in Oregon for the third straight day are basing their boycott on an obscure, 44-year-old state law that requires bill summaries to be written at the reading level of an eighth- or ninth-grader. The 1979 state law requires a score of at least 60 on something called the Flesch readability test. Dr. Rudolf Flesch, a Vienna-born psychologist, developed the test in the 1940s and lawmakers nationwide later used it to make insurance policies easier to read. Oregon did the same for legislation, but most bills have a college-level reading score, regardless of party.