Much of the progress Oregon has made in expanding health care access is at risk as a result of the federal budget reconciliation bill enacted by Congress.  In this episode of Policy for the People, we discuss the past, present and future of Oregon’s system of health care, including the threats posed by the federal budget reconciliation bill. Our guest is Dr. Bruce Goldberg. Bruce is a professor at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and a nationally recognized health policy expert. 

It's hard to overstate the danger that lies ahead for many families in Oregon and across the country, especially the families already struggling the most to stay afloat economically, as a result of the budget reconciliation law passed by Congress. This law will leave many Oregon families less healthy, hungrier and poorer.

The reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House is truly monstrous, slashing health care and nutrition assistance to help pay for tax cuts that mainly would go to the rich. But there's more harm that would flow from the bill.

One thing that hasn't gotten a lot of attention is the fact that the reconciliation bill threatens to shrink Oregon revenue collections, due to the way our state tax code connects to the federal tax code. As OCPP Deputy Director Daniel Hauser explains in this episode of Policy for the People, if the US House reconciliation bill becomes law and the Oregon legislature does nothing, Oregon will end up having less money to address the needs of Oregonians, just when there will be greater need due to the federal cuts to health care and nutrition assistance. 

Just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation bill – a massive tax and budget package. If this bill ultimately becomes law, it will – among other things – force deep cuts to safety net programs, especially Medicaid and nutrition assistance.

One of the members of Congress who voted no on the bill was Representative Andrea Salinas, who represents Oregon’s 6th Congressional District.

We spoke with Representative Salinas about what the budget reconciliation bill would mean for Oregonians and the people of this country.

Food banks across Oregon are seeing record numbers of people coming in through their doors. Ever since the pandemic, the rising cost of living has been making it harder for families to afford food. 

And now, at a time when there is a hunger crisis going on, actions by the Trump administration and Congress threaten to make matters worse – far worse.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we examine the dire state of hunger in Oregon. Our guest is with Andrea Williams, President of the Oregon Food Bank. Andrea discusses what food pantries in Oregon are seeing, the actions by the Trump administration that have cut support for food bank networks across the country, and the risk that Congress may weaken the nation’s most important nutrition program.

We also talk about the kinds of policy changes that can take us in a better direction, including Food For All Oregonians, a policy that would ensure that all young children in Oregon, regardless of their immigration status, have access to nutrition assistance. It is a policy proposal premised on the recognition that food is a human right.

In celebration of May Day, International Workers Day, we are issuing this special episode of Policy for the People examining the state of the labor movement. Our guest is Don McIntosh, editor of the Northwest Labor Press, who has been reporting about the labor movement for over two decades. Don discusses the present state of the labor movement, what the Trump Administration means for organized labor, and the policy changes that would remove the barriers that workers face when seeking to form a union.

Right now, the Republican controlled Congress is speeding down a path that would raise costs for food and health care for millions of families by taking away Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. It would do so in order to help pay for massive tax cuts primarily benefiting the most well-off, including millionaires and billionaires.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we speak with Oregon Senator Ron Wyden about what the budget blueprint currently being discussed in Congress means for Oregonians and the nation. 

We also speak with Steve Wamhoff, Federal Policy Director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, about his recent report titled: Federal Tax Policy: What Should It Accomplish? In it he argues that our federal government needs to raise more revenue, not less, and do so in a progressive way. In other words, we need to go in the opposite direction from the current plan in Congress.

The revival of an old idea is offering hope for improving pay and working conditions in entire industries all at once. That policy is often referred to as Workforce Standards Boards.

In this episode of Policy for the People, Ira Cuello-Martinez of PCUN, Oregon’s Farmworker Union, discusses the tough working conditions that farmworkers in Oregon endure, and why the creation of a Workforce Standards Board for farmworkers – something currently under discussion in Salem – could be a real game changer.

Then, David Madland of the Center for American Progress explains the benefits of Workforce Standards Boards and why there’s been a resurgence of interest in this policy.

For some Oregonians, the complexity and cost involved in tax filing is a barrier to doing their taxes. Oregonians who would be due a tax refund, who would get money back by filing a tax return, don't receive those dollars because they're unable to navigate the complicated process of preparing and filing a tax return.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we discuss two initiatives that are making tax filing easy and free. The first is Direct File. This online tool created by the IRS is now available to eligible Oregonians, explains Tyler Mac Innis of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

The second thing is Oregon's Tax Infrastructure Grant program, a network of organizations that rely on trained volunteers to help low- and moderate-income Oregonians prepare and file their taxes. Riley Eldredge of MFS CASH Oregon, one of the organizations that are part of this network, discusses how free tax assistance can make a big difference in the lives of Oregonians, and why Oregon's Tax Infrastructure Grant program has a huge return on investment. 

Oregon’s workforce is getting older, as more and more Oregonians continue to work into their later years of life. But many older workers run up against age discrimination. Age discrimination in the workplace is prevalent in Oregon and nationally, according to research by AARP. 

In this episode of Policy for the People, we explore the issue of age discrimination in the workplace. Our guest is Andrea Meyer, Director of Government Relations at AARP Oregon. We discuss how pervasive the problem of age discrimination in the workplace is, its consequences, and what Oregon can do to address the problem.