In about 18 months, Portland-area drivers will be paying the first of many tolls if the Oregon Department of Transportation has its way. By the end of 2024, ODOT plans to toll both the Abernethy Bridge and the Tualatin River Bridges on I-205. Tolls could be as high as $2.20 each way on each bridge, […]
In 2017, when the Oregon Legislature authorized a modest highway widening project on I-5 just north of the I-84 intersection, it was expected to improve travel speeds and reduce traffic accidents. The estimated construction cost was $500 million-$700 million. By 2021, the project had morphed into a social justice and real estate development scheme, with […]
Last November, voters in Arkansas elected Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders as their new Governor. Oregonians elected Democrat Tina Kotek. On March 9, Gov. Huckabee Sanders signed the Arkansas LEARNS Act, her top legislative priority. The new law creates Educational Freedom Accounts for all K-12 students, to be phased in by 2026. Individuals choosing a Freedom […]
Last week’s snowstorm was more than a snow-pocalypse, it was a dystopian scene of the decline of Portland civil society. The storm snuck up on all of us. Because it came so quickly and so hard, many drivers had to abandon their vehicles on the side of the road. In response, the City of Portland […]
A new report published by Cascade Policy Institute finds that school choice programs such as vouchers and education savings accounts can improve public school quality. The report, “Decades of Research Finds Voucher Programs Are Associated with Improved Public School Quality” reviews more than 20 years of research evaluating the relationship between school choice programs and […]
Cascade Policy Institute has released a new report evaluating the effect of an Education Savings Account program on local public school district budgets. “Education Savings Accounts Can Boost Per-Student Spending in Public Schools” examines funding for every Oregon school district. The report finds that if 5% of public-school students used an ESA program to transfer […]
January 22-28 is National School Choice Week, a celebration of opportunity in K-12 education. Every January, thousands of independent events draw attention to the ways school choice brings quality education to millions of students. Families increasingly believe parents should be able to choose among the schools and resources that best meet their children’s academic and […]
If the Oregon Department of Transportation has its way, Portland-area freeways won’t be free for much longer. Tolling is coming to Oregon, and it’s coming in about two years. ODOT’s current plan is to toll all lanes of I-5 and I-205 from just south of Wilsonville to all the way across the Columbia River. If […]
Today, many people associate the word “monopoly” with big tech firms like Google and Amazon that crowd out competitors. They may be unaware that many other monopolies operate in local jurisdictions and are protected by Oregon law. Water, sewage, electricity, natural gas, mass transit, and even waste hauling services are all provided by government-run or […]
A June poll of Oregonians conducted by Nelson Research and sponsored by the Oregon Moms Union (an education advocacy group) found that most Oregonians are unhappy with the K-12 education system. It also showed that 73% of Oregon voters support school choice, including 60% of Democrats. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as national polls consistently […]