Policy for the People

The share of children in the U.S. living in poverty has soared, according to new data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. In today’s episode, we talk with Tyler Mac Innis, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, about what’s behind the surge in child poverty. We also discuss how the federal government measures poverty in a way that significantly understates the number of families having trouble making ends meet.In the second half of the show, we explore a different, more accurate measure of economic insecurity developed by the United Way. We talk with Jim Cooper, President and CEO of United Way of the Pacific Northwest, about the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Index, and what this measure economic insecurity tells us about the current reality facing Oregon families.

This special episode examines what is looking increasingly likely: a federal government shutdown. Unless Congress can pass a continuing budget resolution by September 30, the shutdown will begin on Sunday, October 1.What would a federal government shutdown mean for people in Oregon and across the nation? Who would be most affected? And what are the deeper policy and ideological differences driving the nation toward a federal government shutdown?To examine these issues, the Oregon Center for Public Policy’s Executive Director, Alejandro Queral, spoke with someone with decades of experience navigating the halls of Congress: Ellen Nissenbaum, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

All of the strike activity we’re seeing right now is a hopeful sign for those who want to see an economy that works for everyone. In this episode, we speak with Margaret Poydock and Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute, co-authors of the recent report What to know about this summer’s strike activity. We discuss what’s driving the recent wave of strikes, the challenges workers encounter when seeking to strike, and the policy changes that would strengthen workers’ ability to act collectively. 

Money is power. And the extreme concentration of wealth that we're seeing means that more and more political power is in the hands of billionaires, who use that power to further increase their wealth, according to today’s guest, Bob Lord. Bob is the Senior Advisor on Tax Policy for Patriotic Millionaires, as well as an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk with Bob Lord about why taxing the rich is essential in order to shrink inequality and save our democracy. 

On July 1, workers in one region of Oregon achieved what once seemed an inspired goal. The minimum wage in the Portland metro area — not in the rest of the state — crossed the $15 an hour level. But this milestone arrived more than a decade after workers across the country began demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage.In this episode, we examine how much actual progress Oregon’s minimum wage workers made since the legislature established a new minimum wage law seven years ago.We finish with a brief discussion on a big win for Oregon’s most vulnerable children: the legislature’s decision to establish the Oregon Kids' Credit, a new state child tax credit.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that threats of violence against the LGBT community are on the rise. We’ve also seen a slew of anti-LGBT legislation in statehouses across the country.  In addition to increased hostility and threats to physical safety, the LGBT community also faces higher levels of another form of violence, what Gandhi described as “the worst form of violence”: poverty.In this episode of Policy for the People, we discuss the issue of poverty in the LGBT community with Dr. Bianca D.M. Wilson, a Senior Scholar of Public Policy with the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The Williams Institute is the nation’s leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

The clock is ticking on the nation’s ability to pay its debts, as U.S. House Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats and the White House agree to steep budget cuts. While much of the attention has been on the economic crisis that could follow a default by the U.S. on its debt obligations, that’s not the only risk facing the nation and our state.In this special episode of Policy for the People, we examine what’s at stake for Oregonians in the debt ceiling negotiations.OCPP executive director Alejandro Queral spoke with Whitney Tucker, Director of State Fiscal Policy Research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about the economic hardship that would fall on Oregonians from the budget cuts sought by House Republicans.

Over the past four-and-a-half decades, we have seen economic inequality return with a vengeance. We're living through a new Gilded Age, comparable to the one at the turn of the 19th Century. The first Gilded Age was the age of Rockefeller and Carnegie; ours is the age of Bezos and Knight. The return of extreme wealth inequality is the result of public policy choices, not least decisions in how we tax the superrich.In this episode of Policy for the People, we look at two different policies on how we tax – or don’t tax – the wealthy. In the first segment, we examine the tax break known as Opportunity Zones. Bennett Minton of Tax Fairness Oregon explains why this is a tax break where only the rich can play.In the second segment, the Oregon Center for Public Policy’s Daniel Hauser discusses a recent attempt by some Oregon lawmakers to fast-track a repeal of the estate tax – the only real mechanism we have in Oregon for taxing extreme wealth.

Many families in Oregon struggle to put food on the table, and this is especially true for many immigrant families. They are excluded from the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As a result, many immigrants – including the very people who grow, harvest, and process the food we eat – cannot access federal food assistance.But there is hope on the horizon. Oregon Senate Bill 610, known as Food for All Oregonians, would extend food assistance to immigrant families where the federal government fails to do so.In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk about SB 610 with Fatima Jawaid Marty, the campaign manager for Food for All Oregonians, and Aldo Solano, the Strategic Partnerships Manager at the Oregon Food Bank.

Care workers play a vital role in our communities.  They feed, bathe, and otherwise care for those who cannot take care of themselves. In doing so, care workers make it possible for others to go to work and live their lives. Unfortunately, care workers get paid low wages and few benefits, all while performing physically and emotionally demanding work.In this episode, we speak with Melissa Unger, Executive Director of SEIU Local 503, about the challenges facing care workers – specifically, those who perform long-term care work. We discuss what Oregon lawmakers should do to ensure that care workers can take care of themselves and their families.  One of the policies that could go a long way in improving working conditions for long-term care workers is what's known as a “wage board.”  We end the show with a conversation with Janet Bauer, Director of Policy Research at the Oregon Center for Public Policy, about the benefits of wage boards.