John Kroger wants to be an activist attorney general. Since being sworn in, he’s taken on predatory lenders, challenged the LNG terminal, and headed up the investigation of Mayor Sam Adams. Now he’s asking lawmakers to fund a new civil rights unit so he can sue Oregon companies that break our state’s civil rights laws. His request comes as lawmakers in Salem are facing a growing budget crisis and considering major cuts in education, family services, public safety and other essential services.

Since taking office last January, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has taken on the siting of a liquified natural gas terminal in Clatsop County, started investigating the collapse of the Oregon College Savings Plan, pushed for a faster cleanup of Hanford, and cleared the way to prosecute unethical debt collectors. He also wants Oregonians to give him a bigger budget to create an environmental crimes unit and a civil rights division.