Apparently, there is no limit to the Oregon legislature’s disdain for businesses and other employers. This disdain is demonstrated in three bills that seek to saddle employers with expensive mandates and expansive regulations that will smother job opportunities, stifle employment growth, and do little improve the everyday lives of most working Oregonians. Paid family leave […]
Testimony Before the Joint Subcommittee on Capital Construction HB 5005 Members of the subcommittee, my name is John Charles and I am President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization. Most witnesses ask you to spend money. I am here asking you to save money – by deleting the Governor’s request for […]
I’ve got a big family, which means we do a lot of laundry. With our old appliances, we were doing a load a day and there was a backlog of dirty clothes. When our old washer and dryer went kaput, we decided on an upgrade. I bought the biggest, most energy efficient washer and dryer […]
This week, Portland’s City Council will get the first annual report on how the city is spending its affordable housing bond money. The four-page report—yes, it’s really only four pages—is colorful and has lots of pictures but nothing about actual results. So, I did some research. Turns out, by the end of 2018, the city […]
This week our State Treasurer, Tobias Read, issued a press release bragging that investors around the country “stood in line” to loan Oregon $100 million so that Governor Kate Brown could buy part of the Elliott State Forest, which we already own. According to Treasurer Read, “There was three times more demand than supply” of […]
Here’s a question for you: Why is housing so expensive in Oregon? Government at all levels has attempted to address the issue of housing affordability for years with tax credits, occasional expansion of the urban growth boundary, multimillion dollar bond measures, and now statewide rent control in Oregon. But rather than making life easier for […]
Fake news is bad, but no news is even worse. Across the world, across the country, across the state, and across our communities, we are witnessing an obliteration of local news media. In Oregon, local newspapers are struggling and shuttering while TV and radio outlets focus more and more on national news fed by wire […]
Oregon’s most pressing environmental crisis isn’t in forests or renewable energy. Our human habitats have been endangered by our restrictive so-called “smart growth” policies. Even when we talk about allowing growth, policymakers tend to favor light rail over people’s real needs. Senate Bill 10, which would require cities like Portland to allow development of 75 […]
Education Savings Accounts deposit a percentage of the funds that the state would otherwise spend to educate a student in a public school into accounts associated with the student’s family. The family may use the funds to spend on private school tuition or other educational expenses. Funds remaining in the account after expenses may be […]
Eric Fruits, Ph.D. joined Cascade Policy Institute February 1 as Vice President of Research. Fruits is president and chief economist at Economics International Corp. and is an adjunct professor of economics at Portland State University. Cascade Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research and educational organization based in Portland. Fruits has been a long-time […]
