Policy for the People

A man-made disaster is unfolding right now all across our nation, Oregon included. 

At a time when the cost of food and other essentials has been on the rise, our nation’s most important anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – what used to be called “food stamps” – has begun to break down. And break down quickly. 

This is setting the stage for much greater levels of hunger and suffering throughout our nation.

There is no mystery as to why SNAP has begun to unravel. Last year, Congress and the Trump administration pushed through deep cuts to nutrition assistance as part of H.R.1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.” 

The harm from those cuts has arrived even more quickly than was expected, according to Katie Bergh, a Senior Policy Analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk with Katie Bergh about what's been happening with the SNAP program nationally and in Oregon. 

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For decades, Oregon has resisted calls to replace some of its income taxes with a sales tax. Now, that idea is back — with Governor Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council calling for an overhaul of Oregon’s tax code that could mean lower income tax rates and the establishment of a sales tax.

What happens when states follow that path? In this episode of Policy for the People, we look at what’s happened in states that have cut income taxes while increasing their reliance on sales taxes. The results are striking: tax systems have become more regressive, shifting more of the burden onto working families.

We hear from analyst Sarah Austin of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy about the national trend, and from Alexandra Sirota of the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center about her state’s decade-long experiment with cutting personal income and corporate income taxes. North Carolina has ranked among the nation’s top states for business — but its tax cuts have failed to deliver the promised economic boom and have contributed to growing fiscal challenges and underfunded public services.

As Oregon considers changes to its tax system, the question is simple: Will Oregon follow North Carolina’s path, or instead choose the path that asks more from those who can most afford to pay?

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What would happen if the United States tripled the share of workers who belong to unions?

In this episode of Policy for the People, we talk with Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute about the case for dramatically expanding union membership—and what stronger unions could mean for workers and the economy.

According to EPI’s analysis, tripling union density could, among other things
--Raise the average worker’s pay by about 14.5%, or roughly $7,700 a year
--Shift an estimated $1.2 trillion annually toward workers
--Reverse about one-third of the increase in inequality since 1979

The conversation explores a central question: Could rebuilding union power help address the biggest economic challenges facing working people today?

Read EPI’s report The Case for Tripling Union Membership: https://www.epi.org/publication/the-case-for-tripling-union-membership-how-rebuilding-union-power-would-strengthen-workers-the-economy-and-our-democracy/

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Roughly 70,000 Oregonians have already dropped off the SNAP program since 2025, because of the Trump administration enacting the biggest cuts in the history of SNAP, our nation’s main line of defense against hunger.

At the same time, the Trump Administration also clawed back federal funding to food pantries around the country, including the Oregon Food Bank. Combined, these attacks on our state safety net are causing havoc for families struggling to put food on the table as the price of groceries soars. We interview Matt Newell-Ching, the public policy manager at the Oregon Food Bank. And we tell the story of single parent Gerty Ferguson in Eugene, who uses SNAP for her and her two young girls. 

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As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, what kind of country do we want to become?

We speak with Taifa Butler, President of Demos, about the challenges facing American democracy and the need for a "Third Reconstruction." We discuss the connection between economic power and political power, the role of worker power in a healthy democracy, the enduring impact of racism and the racial wealth divide, and why America's democratic institutions are at a critical crossroads. Butler argues that the nation must move beyond incremental reforms and embrace a more expansive vision of citizenship, democracy, and shared prosperity.

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In this episode of Policy for the People we discuss a recent report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy examining Oregon's economic performance. As OCPP Policy Analyst Tyler Mac Innis explains, Oregon's economy has done quite well over the long haul, outperforming that of most other states. 

Oregon's main economic challenge is not the lack of prosperity, but the lack of shared prosperity -- the fact that most of the benefits produced by the economy are flowing into the hands of those at the top. 

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers across the country began organizing at levels not seen in years. From Starbucks to Amazon, employees pushed back against low wages and poor working conditions — and Oregon workers are part of that movement.

One group of Oregon workers who successfully fought to unionize are the workers at Serenity Hospice in Eugene. In this episode of Policy for the People, we hear their story, from what got them to start organizing, to what it took to win their first contract.

We also take a big picture look at labor activity in Oregon.  Kathy Lara of the Oregon Center for Public Policy breaks down the latest figures on worker organizing, why unions continue to matter for wages and workplace standards, and the barriers workers still face when trying to organize.

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The big business lobby constantly complains that Oregon’s “business climate” is terrible, but what does the data actually show? 

In this episode of Policy for the People, we dig into one of the most common myths about Oregon’s economy: that the state has a bad business climate.

Economist Joe Cortright of City Observatory joins the show to break it all down. Drawing on national data and decades of experience, Cortright explains why the claims by the business community about Oregon’s “business climate” don’t hold up — and why Oregon’s economy has actually performed quite well compared to other states.

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In this episode, Alejandro Queral of the Oregon Center for Public Policy speaks with Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, the state’s chief elections officer, on efforts by the Trump administration to make it harder for people to vote. These efforts include the SAVE Act, which imposes costs and barriers on voters, as well as changes to the rules by which the U.S. Postal Service postmarks mail, which has big implications for Oregon’s vote-by-mail system. Their discussion also discusses the influence of money in politics, especially at a time of extreme economic inequality.

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Oregon is one of the nation’s top destinations for data centers, attracted by the state’s cheap power and favorable climate. Despite the state being an ideal location for data centers, Oregon and communities like Hillsboro in Washington County have been doling out massive tax subsidies to the corporate owners of data centers. That has been a very foolish thing to do, says Dirk Knudsen, a real estate broker and editor of the Hillsboro Herald. Dirk has followed closely the rise of data centers in Hillsboro. In this episode of Policy for the People, Dirk shares what he’s learned about the data center boom.

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