Policy for the People

A few weeks ago, we learned that a $3 billion "kicker" rebate could be on its way. As usual, the rich would get huge checks, while the lowest-income Oregonians -- those who could really use some extra money to pay the bills -- would get chump change. In this episode, we hear from Mark McMullen, head of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, about the state of Oregon's economy and the prospects of a new kicker. We also hear from Daniel Hauser, the Oregon Center for Public Policy's Director of Strategic Policy Projects, on what's wrong with the kicker and how to reform it to serve the interests of all Oregonians.

Oregon's biggest housing program, the mortgage interest deduction, does nothing to ease the state's long-running housing crisis. That's because this billion-dollar housing subsidy mainly benefits well-off homeowners. This is only one of the many flaws of the mortgage interest deduction, according to a recent audit by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office. In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk with Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and Audits Director Kip Memmott about what the audit revealed.Read the audit Without Legislative Action the Mortgage Interest Deduction Will Remain Regressive and Inequitable. 

Large scale experiments carried out during the pandemic have given a boost to an old idea: addressing poverty and economic insecurity by giving people cash with no strings attached.  In this episode, we speak with State Representative Andrea Valderrama (HD 47) about the legislature's recent decision to send a one-time payment of $600 to low-paid workers in Oregon. Also, OCPP Director of Policy Research Janet Bauer discusses the growing body of evidence showing that guaranteed income and other cash policies are effective at addressing economic insecurity.

On Women's History Month, Policy for the People explores the gender biases in the tax code and reforms that can advance gender justice. We discuss these issues with Amy Matsui, Director of Income Security and Senior Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center.

With guests Andrea Paluso of Family Forward Oregon and Mary King, economics professor emeritus at Portland State University, we examine Oregon’s child care crisis – the challenges it poses for families, child care workers, and the economy. And we discuss the kinds of policy changes that can set things right.

Despite often performing work considered essential to the nation's critical infrastructure, undocumented workers live under the constant fear of deportation. In this episode of Policy for the People, Janet Bauer of the Oregon Center for Public Policy and Isa Peña of Innovation Law Lab discuss how deportation wreaks havoc on families and weakens Oregon's economy, as well as what the state can do to reduce the harm.Learn more: read the report Deportation harms Oregon's economy and upends family security.

In this special episode of Policy for the People, we share a recording of a presentation by the Oregon Center for Public Policy titled "The Racist Roots of Oregon's Tax System."  Listen to OCPP communications director Juan Carlos Ordóñez discuss how Oregon's tax system entrenches and even deepens racial inequality. 

One of the biggest tax havens in the world — one of the main places where the superrich go to stash their money and avoid taxes — is the U.S. This is largely due to the fact that a number of U.S. states have transformed themselves into tax havens. In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk to Kalena Thomhave, a researcher with the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, about the rise of domestic tax havens and how they make the already severe problem of vast wealth inequality even worse.

In this episode, we discuss the Build Back Better legislation before Congress. Samantha Jacoby of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and OCPP's Alejandro Queral explain what this transformational legislation would mean for the nation and Oregon.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we explore the problem of poor quality jobs — jobs that pay too little to adequately support a family and that often come with few if any benefits. OCPP Senior Policy Analyst Janet Bauer explains the dimensions of the problem and what Oregon can do to address it.You can dive deeper into the issue by reading our report Poor Quality Jobs Predominate in Strong Economy.