The ballot for November’s election is filling up, and a lot of local governments are trying to reach into your pocket for more of your tax dollars. Some of them are real doozies, like Portland Community College’s construction bond measure. In 2017, PCC voters approved $185 million in new property taxes for construction projects. In […]
It’s budget season for local governments in Oregon. Budgets may sound boring. In reality, they are the best demonstration of what politicians truly prioritize. Forget the campaign promises and the press releases. The budget is where the action is. This year, there is a line item tucked into the City of Portland budget for Prosper […]
For more than a year, Cascade Policy Institute has urged Metro to convert all or part of its Expo Center into a shelter for the region’s homeless. For much of that year, the City of Portland and Metro have had on-again, off-again conversations about using the site.Let’s face it. The Expo Center is a money […]
The Census just released the latest population estimates and, for the first time in nearly two decades, Multnomah County’s population has dropped. From 2020 to 2021, the county’s population decreased by more than 12,000 people, or 1.5%.Neighboring Washington and Clackamas counties reported almost no change, while Clark County in Washington saw a 1.3% increase in […]
This time they’re coming for your home. Earlier this month, Oregon’s Secretary of State released an audit of Oregon’s mortgage interest tax deduction. According to the audit, the tax deduction is “regressive and inequitable.” This audit is unusual in that it calls into question policy decisions made by the legislature. In particular, it claims that […]
Just five months ago, Portland City Council announced that the city was going to have an unexpected $62 million surplus. Earlier that year, the mayor was begging people to come back downtown to shop in stores and eat in restaurants. Fast forward to today, and Portland has revealed that, somehow, the city’s transportation budget is […]
People in the Portland area love their parks and they love nature. So much that in 2019, voters approved $475 million in bonds for Metro’s “Parks and Nature” program. What voters thought they were voting for—and what they were told they would get—was more public parks for people and the protection of natural areas. However […]
Why does Oregon still have a mask mandate? Oregon is now one of the last states to have a statewide mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. If you listen closely to our public health experts, they say they’re focused on hospitalizations. Once the hospitalizations come down, they say then we can throw off […]
COVID-19 disrupted—and may continue to disrupt—in-person learning at many Oregon public schools. For many high schoolers, this has led to reduced academic achievement and a decline in mental health. At the same time, some students, colleges, and employers worry that a new law removing a longstanding graduation requirement that students prove proficiency in essential learning […]
Earlier this week, the Michigan Democratic Party’s Facebook account landed in some hot water. A post published to the page mocked parents who say they should have a voice in what public schools teach. The post went on to say that public schools teach kids what society “needs them to know.” This was the same […]