Policy for the People

A man-made disaster is unfolding right now all across our nation, Oregon included. 

At a time when the cost of food and other essentials has been on the rise, our nation’s most important anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – what used to be called “food stamps” – has begun to break down. And break down quickly. 

This is setting the stage for much greater le...

For decades, Oregon has resisted calls to replace some of its income taxes with a sales tax. Now, that idea is back — with Governor Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council calling for an overhaul of Oregon’s tax code that could mean lower income tax rates and the establishment of a sales tax.

What happens when states follow that path? In this episode of Policy for the People, we look at what’s happened in states that...

What would happen if the United States tripled the share of workers who belong to unions?

In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk with Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute about the case for dramatically expanding union membership—and what stronger unions could mean for workers and the economy.

According to EPI’s analysis, tripling union density could, among other things
--Raise th...

Roughly 70,000 Oregonians have already dropped off the SNAP program since 2025, because of the Trump administration enacting the biggest cuts in the history of SNAP, our nation’s main line of defense against hunger.

At the same time, the Trump Administration also clawed back federal funding to food pantries around the country, including the Oregon Food Bank. Combined, these attacks on our state safety net are causing havoc for...

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, what kind of country do we want to become?

We speak with Taifa Butler, President of Demos, about the challenges facing American democracy and the need for a "Third Reconstruction." We discuss the connection between economic power and political power, the role of worker power in a healthy democracy, the enduring impact of racism and the racial wealth divide, and why America's dem...

In this episode of Policy for the People we discuss a recent report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy examining Oregon's economic performance. As OCPP Policy Analyst Tyler Mac Innis explains, Oregon's economy has done quite well over the long haul, outperforming that of most other states. 

Oregon's main economic challenge is not the lack of prosperity, but the lack of shared prosperity -- the fact that most of the benefits...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers across the country began organizing at levels not seen in years. From Starbucks to Amazon, employees pushed back against low wages and poor working conditions — and Oregon workers are part of that movement.

One group of Oregon workers who successfully fought to unionize are the workers at Serenity Hospice in Eugene. In this episode of Policy for the People, we hear their story, fro...

The big business lobby constantly complains that Oregon’s “business climate” is terrible, but what does the data actually show? 

In this episode of Policy for the People, we dig into one of the most common myths about Oregon’s economy: that the state has a bad business climate.

Economist Joe Cortright of City Observatory joins the show to break it all down. Drawing on national data and dec...

In this episode, Alejandro Queral of the Oregon Center for Public Policy speaks with Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, the state’s chief elections officer, on efforts by the Trump administration to make it harder for people to vote. These efforts include the SAVE Act, which imposes costs and barriers on voters, as well as changes to the rules by which the U.S. Postal Service postmarks mail, which has big implications for...

Oregon is one of the nation’s top destinations for data centers, attracted by the state’s cheap power and favorable climate. Despite the state being an ideal location for data centers, Oregon and communities like Hillsboro in Washington County have been doling out massive tax subsidies to the corporate owners of data centers. That has been a very foolish thing to do, says Dirk Knudsen, a real estate broker and editor of...

Oregon's subsidized child care program, Employment Related Day Care (ERDC), is on course to run out of money in less than a year. If that happens, thousands of families would lose child care, and with that, the ability of parents to work. That would be catastrophic for families and the state, explain our two guests: Marchel Kaleikini and Ivy Major-McDowall of For All Families Oregon.

Marchel and Ivy discuss the state of child care i...

As the number of elderly Oregonians surpasses the number of children, demand for long-term care is rising. But the workers who provide this essential care are underpaid, overworked, and leaving the industry at alarming rates. 

Melissa Unger, Executive Director of SEIU Local 503, which represents tens of thousands of long-term care workers across Oregon, describes the physically and emotionally demanding nature of care work, the...

We break down the latest data on income inequality in Oregon. OCPP policy analyst Tyler Mac Innis explains that the gap separating the rich and everyone else remains vast, even with the dip in income inequality seen in the two years following the peak set in 2021. That dip may have already reversed, given that the job-market factors driving the decline during the pandemic years have disappeared. And going forward, the budget bill e...

In this episode, we examine how the Trump administration’s decision to end the federal food security report threatens to hide the reality of hunger in America. Oregon Center for Public Policy analyst Tyler Mac Innis explains what losing this data means for families and policymakers, while Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality executive director Lelaine Bigelow discusses why poverty endures in one of the richest nat...

Starbucks does more business in Oregon than in just about any corner of the world. For one, the U.S. is the largest market for the world’s largest coffee chain.  And in the U.S., there are more Starbucks stores per capita in Oregon than any other state.

So how much in profits does Starbucks make in Oregon and how much does it pay in taxes to the state? We don’t know. That information is secret. But one thin...

 Much of the progress Oregon has made in expanding health care access is at risk as a result of the federal budget reconciliation bill enacted by Congress.  In this episode of Policy for the People, we discuss the past, present and future of Oregon’s system of health care, including the threats posed by the federal budget reconciliation bill. Our guest is Dr. Bruce Goldberg. Bruce is a professor at the OHSU-PSU Scho...

The reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House is truly monstrous, slashing health care and nutrition assistance to help pay for tax cuts that mainly would go to the rich. But there's more harm that would flow from the bill.

One thing that hasn't gotten a lot of attention is the fact that the reconciliation bill threatens to shrink Oregon revenue collections, due to the way our state tax code connects to the federal tax code. As O...