Policy for the People

“The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) is facing an unprecedented crisis that threatens worker protections and civil rights enforcement in the state,” according to the Bureau itself.  In this episode of Policy for the People, we speak with Oregon Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson about the funding crisis that BOLI faces, and what that means for the economic well-being of working Oregonians.

We also speak with Jake Barnes of the Workplace Justice Lab at Rutgers University. He is the co-author of a recent report estimating the extent to which workers get paid less than the legally required minimum wage.

How Oregon sets the salary of state legislators and other elected officials could soon change.  If enacted by voters, Measure 116 on the November ballot would take away from the Oregon legislature the responsibility for deciding how much lawmakers, the Governor, and other state elected officials get paid, and give that task to an independent salary commission. 

In this episode of Policy for the People, we speak with two supporters of Measure 116. Isabela Villarreal is Policy and Communications Manager for Next Up Action Fund. Robin Ye is Political and Strategy Director at East County Rising.

Echoing statements from both presidential candidates, one Oregon State Senator recently put forward the idea of exempting tips from Oregon income taxes. But is exempting tips from taxes a good idea?  

In this episode of Policy for the People, we explore the idea of no taxes on tips. Daniel Hauser, Deputy Director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, explains that exempting tips from taxes would do little to improve the economic security of struggling workers, while making our tax system less fair.

We also examine the origins of the practice of tipping. Nina Mast of the Economic Policy Institute discusses how tipping is a legacy of our nation’s deeply racist past, and what that means for workers today. 

Measure 118 will be one of the most closely watched measures on the November ballot.  Known as “The Oregon Rebate,” the measure would make it so that each year, every resident of Oregon gets a rebate from the state. To pay for these rebates, the measure would institute one of the biggest changes to Oregon’s tax system in decades.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we take a deep dive into Measure 118. Daniel Hauser, OCPP's Deputy Director, discusses what Measure 118 gets right, and what it doesn’t.

Last month saw yet another record in terms of the fortunes held by the nation's superrich. In July 2024, the roughly 800 billionaires in the U.S. were collectively worth about $6 trillion, the highest amount ever. In light of this, it seemed like a good time to replay a prior episode of Policy for the People examining the need to tax extreme wealth. In August of last year, Bob Lord of Patriotic Millionaires joined us to discuss why taxing the rich is essential in order to shrink inequality and save our democracy

Next year, 2025, is setting up to be a pivotal year when it comes to how our nation raises the money needed to pay for public services — things like health, housing, the nation’s safety net, and more.

The reason for this dates back to 2017. That year, Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, better known as the Trump tax cuts. This tax package contained massive changes to our tax system that mostly amounted to huge tax cuts for the rich and corporations. For procedural reasons, as well as to mask the true costs of these massive tax cuts, Congress made some parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act temporary. It gave them an expiration date. And that expiration date is 2025.

The expiration of parts of the Trump Tax plan offers an opportunity to reassess our nation’s tax policy, explains Samantha Jacoby, Deputy Director of Federal Tax Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

Recently, the IRS announced that its Direct File program is expanding. This is a big deal.

Filing a tax return is complicated. It’s costly. This is a bad situation for everyone, especially families struggling to get by on low wages. The complexity and cost of filing taxes deters many low-income workers from claiming the tax credits for which they are eligible, undermining some of the nation’s core anti-poverty strategies.

But with Direct File, a new system is beginning to take shape, one that will provide a simple and free way for people to file their tax returns. Courtney O’Reilly, a Senior Program Manager on the Tax Benefits team at Code for America, explains what IRS Direct File is and why its expansion is an exciting development. Then, Daniel Hauser of the Oregon Center for Public Policy discusses what the situation looks like in Oregon – the harm inflicted on Oregonians from our complex and costly tax filing system, as well as efforts to create a better system.

The month of May began with the celebration of International Workers’ Day. May Day, as it’s often called, dates back to the late 19th Century, when labor movements that counted on heavy participation by immigrant workers agitated for better working conditions. Today in the U.S., May Day celebrates both the labor movement and the immigrant community.

In that spirit, this episode of Policy for the People focuses on both the labor movement and immigrants. Anthony Capote of the Immigration Research Initiative discusses the findings of a report he co-wrote titled Immigrants in the Oregon Economy: Overcoming Hurdles, Yet Still Facing Barriers. Also, Kathy Lara of the Oregon Center for Public Policy talks about the latest figures on labor activity in Oregon, as well as the challenges that workers seeking to form a union continue to encounter.

With tax season coming to an end, it’s a good moment to discuss the vital role that our tax system plays in our lives. At its best, the tax system makes the economy work better for everyone. At its worst, it deepens existing economic injustices.

In this episode, we focus on two aspects of the tax system.  First, we discuss Oregon’s record-breaking kicker, which is sending massive tax rebates to the rich, while giving little or nothing to those struggling the most. OCPP’s Daniel Hauser explains the policy and discusses how to make the kicker work better for Oregonians.

In the second half of the show, we focus on the importance of having a well-funded Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Joe Hughes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy discusses the long-term erosion of the agency’s budget, as well as recent efforts to turn things around.

With lawmakers in Salem having wrapped up their work, we take a look at a couple of legislative developments that perhaps you have not heard about, but which could make a big difference in the economic well-being of many Oregonians.

We begin the show by discussing legislation that better protects Oregonians from unfair debt collection practices. Chris Coughlin, Policy Director at Oregon Consumer Justice, talks about the just-enacted Family Financial Protection Act.

In the latter half of the show, Candice Vickers, Executive Director of Family Forward Oregon, discusses an effort to get the legislature to put sufficient resources into a vital state child care program, Employment Related Day Care.