TriMet Shows That Public Pension Reform Is Possible
By Scott Shepard and John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Legislature is currently…
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Following in TriMet’s Tracks: Defined-Contribution Pensions a Necessary First Step to Oregon’s Fiscal Health
By Scott Shepard Scott Shepard is a lawyer and was a visiting law…
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TriMet Needs a Broader Definition of Diversity
By John A. Charles, Jr. TriMet has been recruiting a new General Manager…
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Four Strikes and You’re Still Out: Oregon’s Ongoing Quest to Centralize Education Policy
By Steve Buckstein In 2015 Oregon state government killed off what should have…
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Oregon Can Help Young Oregonians Be “Future Ready” by Reducing Red Tape
By Kathryn Hickok Governor Kate Brown opened this month’s legislative session with her…
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Climate Change Alarmists Can’t Get Their Story Straight
By John A. Charles, Jr. Relying on computer models to predict the future…
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If Health Care Becomes a “Fundamental Right,” Who Pays for It?
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon House of Representatives has voted for HJR 203,…
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Why Health Care Should Not Be Defined as a “Fundamental Right”
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon House of Representatives has voted for HJR 203,…
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Testimony on HB 4001/SB 1507 Regarding Energy Rationing for Environmental Quality
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr. President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute Regarding…
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For Green Activists, the Cleanest Cars in History Are Bad News
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Legislature convened again this week. A…
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What’s at the Root of Oregon’s Education Problems? (Steve Jobs Already Told Us the Answer)
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon legislature will embark on an “impossible mission” to…
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Oregon Parents Deserve to Be the Voice for Kids’ Education Options
By Bobbie Jager For the second year in a row, Oregon has reported…
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School Choice Is More Than “Just Choosing a Different Brick Building”
By Kathryn Hickok This week is National School Choice Week, the world’s largest…
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Innovative Technology Can Reduce Tobacco Harm and Save Oregonians Tax Dollars
By Steve Buckstein To eventually end cigarette use in America, rather than rely…
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Road Policy Belongs to Those Who Show Up
By John A. Charles, Jr. The Oregon Department of Transportation is hosting three…
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Cascade Policy Institute Celebrates National School Choice Week 2018
January 16, 2018 For Immediate Release Media Contact: Steve Buckstein 503-242-0900 Oregonians will…
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Poll Shows Voters Are Smarter Than Politicians Think
By John A. Charles, Jr. In November the regional government, Metro, released the…
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Measure 101 Deserves Your No Vote
By Steve Buckstein By now you should have your ballot for the January…
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National School Choice Week Celebrates Diversity in K-12 Education
By Kathryn Hickok National School Choice Week is the world’s largest celebration of…
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Give Oregon Kids the Power of Educational Choice, Like Kids in Florida
By Kathryn Hickok Denisha Merriweather failed third grade twice. Today, she is finishing…
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Taxpayers Aren’t at Fault for Oregon’s Abysmal Graduation Rate
By Kathryn Hickok Willamette Week recently reported that, sadly, Oregon has the third-lowest…
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Don’t Allow the Skimming of Medicaid Funds for Unions
By Aaron Withe and Steve Buckstein Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars…
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Winning Is Not the Only Thing That Matters
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last Friday the Republican-controlled Senate passed a 479-page…
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Oregon Ranks 8th Worst in Regulatory Burden on Lower-Income Occupations
By Kathryn Hickok Oregon ranks 8th in the nation in “burdensome” occupational licensing laws,…
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Straightforward policy reforms can reverse Oregon’s lower-than-average incomes and high cost of living
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregon’s economy seems to be chugging along, yet many…
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This Thanksgiving, Are You Part of the One Percent?
By Steve Buckstein You may not have learned this in school, but prior…
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Vote NO on Health Care Tax Measure 101
By Steve Buckstein Oregonians will have the opportunity in January to vote No…
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Tolling People on to Portland’s Highways
By John A. Charles, Jr. Earlier this year the state legislature passed a…
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Military Families Want Flexible Education Options for Their Kids
By Kathryn Hickok EdChoice recently conducted a groundbreaking survey of military-connected families seeking…
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Kate Brown’s Attention Deficit Disorder
By John A. Charles, Jr. The most serious problem facing Oregon right now…
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Oregon’s affordable housing crisis can be attributed to restrictive land use policies
By Lydia White Affordable housing advocates are quick to criticize Portland City Council’s…
Read Blog DetailWin $15,000 for a video telling your school choice story
Choices in Ed Video Competition Entry Deadline is December 1, 2017 Dear School…
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Metro’s New Plan to Keep Voters out of Chehalem Ridge Nature Park
By John A. Charles, Jr. On October 19 the Metro Council adopted an…
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Why Protesters of Betsy DeVos Can’t Understand What She’s Talking About
By Steve Buckstein What would you do if you read an article about…
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Choice Thinking: Why does the public ignore, distort or reject school choice facts and arguments?
by Richard Meinhard, Ph.D. and Steve Buckstein September 10, 2001 (contact information updated…
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When Is a Health Care Tax Not a Tax?
By Steve Buckstein Oregon state legislators who voted for you to pay higher…
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“Shuffling” Is for Playing Cards, Not School Kids
By Kathryn Hickok Portland Public Schools is redrawing the boundaries of more than…
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Timber Conservation and Oregon’s Constitution Shouldn’t Be at Odds
By Lydia White Last week the Idaho Department of State Lands and the…
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Too Late to Fix PERS by Fooling Oregonians
By Scott Shepard Governor Kate Brown’s task force, assigned to find ways to…
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On 25th Anniversary, Charter Schools Have Much to Celebrate
By Kathryn Hickok America’s charter school movement celebrates its 25th anniversary this month….
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Health Care Tax Would Hurt Middle Class
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Many Oregonians are now spending as much on health…
Read Blog DetailYou Can Stop New Health Care Taxes
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon Health Authority has finally removed nearly 55,000 people…
Read Blog DetailGovernor Brown Wants Oregonians to “Take One for the Global Team” over CO2
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has announced her intention…
Read Blog DetailWhose Money Is Your Oregon Kicker Refund?
By Steve Buckstein and Kathryn Hickok State economists have confirmed that individual Oregon…
Read Blog Detail“Worker’s Choice” Would End the Unions’ “Forced-Rider” Problem
By Kathryn Hickok and Steve Buckstein This is National Employee Freedom Week (August…
Read Blog DetailTime to Stop Forcing Union Membership
By Steve Buckstein and Kathryn Hickok This week (August 20-26) is National Employee…
Read Blog DetailThe Right to Choose or Reject Union Representation Respects Workers
By Kathryn Hickok Why do many workers choose to opt out of union…
Read Blog DetailOregon Takes a Big Step to Battle Opioid Overdoses
By Steve Buckstein For a variety of reasons, many Americans are becoming addicted to…
Read Blog DetailPortland’s latest attempt to centrally plan transportation patterns is backfiring
By Jessica Miller Portland has a longstanding history of attempting to socially engineer…
Read Blog DetailCascade Policy Institute Endorses Referendum 301 to Stop New Health Care Taxes on Oregonians
August 2, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Steve Buckstein (503) 242-0900 steven@cascadepolicy.org…
Read Blog DetailOregon’s New Health Care Taxes Are Unjustifiable
By Lydia White Soon after the Oregon Legislature passed a bill expected to generate $550…
Read Blog DetailLet Parents Wield School Spending Power
By Kathryn Hickok Are we missing the trees for the forest in Oregon…
Read Blog DetailMoving Beyond Symbolism
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last week Governor Kate Brown gave a speech…
Read Blog DetailOregon’s new minimum wage law will hurt the people it aims to help
By Lydia White Just prior to Oregon’s July 1 minimum wage* increase from…
Read Blog DetailStop Health Care Taxes dot com
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon legislature just passed, and the Governor signed, a…
Read Blog DetailFloor Memo Regarding Bond Funding for the Elliott State Forest
TO: Members of the Oregon Legislature FM: John Charles for Cascade Policy Institute…
Read Blog DetailWhen Government Gets It Backwards, Reread Jefferson
By Steve Buckstein Two hundred and forty-one years ago this July 4, the…
Read Blog DetailAre Smartphones in Class a Problem or an Opportunity?
By Steve Buckstein To hear some teachers talk, you would think before smartphones…
Read Blog DetailCritiquing Minimum Wage Laws Is About Protecting the Working Man (or Woman)
By Lydia White A team of researchers from the University of Washington produced…
Read Blog DetailTrump’s apprenticeship message to young adults: “There is dignity in every honest job”
By Kathryn Hickok President Donald Trump stressed the dignity of work in a…
Read Blog DetailFreedom in Film: Shane (1953)
By Kathryn Hickok “That’s the trouble with this country. There ain’t a marshal…
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Transportation Finance Isn’t as Complicated as Legislators Make It
By John A. Charles, Jr. Some members of the Oregon Legislature think you…
Read Blog DetailWho says Oregon pays public school teachers more than other states? The National Education Association, that’s who!
By Steve Buckstein As Oregon legislators wrestle with how much money to spend…
Read Blog DetailTestimony in Favor of SB 437 – The Educational Opportunity Act: “The Power of Choice”
By Kathryn Hickok Director, Children’s Scholarship Fund-Oregon Dear Chairman Roblan and Members of…
Read Blog DetailEducation Savings Account Informational Hearing Testimony in Favor of SB 437
Before the Senate Education Committee By Steve Buckstein Cascade Policy Institute Chair Roblan…
Read Blog DetailThe Paris Agreement Was Symbolism over Substance, Leaving Was the Right Call
By John A. Charles, Jr. President Trump made the right call last Thursday…
Read Blog DetailTestimony on SB 847 Regarding Management of Common School Trust Lands
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr. President and CEO, Cascade Policy Institute Regarding…
Read Blog DetailTestimony in Opposition to HB 2720 A Regarding Virtual Charter Schools
By Steve Buckstein Co-Chairs Monroe and Smith Warner and members of the Joint…
Read Blog DetailStatement regarding President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris accord on climate change
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: John A. Charles, Jr. (503) 242-0900 PORTLAND, Ore….
Read Blog DetailThe Case of the Missing Transit Money
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last week the TriMet Board adopted a budget…
Read Blog DetailOregon Legislature Should Give Kids a “Ticket to the Future” Today
By Kathryn Hickok and Steve Buckstein Derrell Bradford has spent his adult life…
Read Blog DetailWho says Oregon spends $13,230 per public school student? The National Education Association, that’s who!
By Steve Buckstein Ever since Oregon’s property tax limitation Measure 5 shifted the…
Read Blog DetailKicker Envy 2017
By Steve Buckstein Individual Oregon income taxpayers may receive kicker refunds when they…
Read Blog DetailOvertaxed and Underbuilt
By John A. Charles, Jr. An Oregon Legislative committee is proposing a massive…
Read Blog DetailPresident Trump’s Environmental Agenda: An Insider’s Perspective
Cascade Policy Institute Hosts Lunch with Special Guest Speaker Myron Ebell President Trump’s…
Read Blog DetailEducation Savings Accounts Treat Kids Like the Individuals They Are
By Kathryn Hickok Six years ago, Arizona became the first state to pass…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Before the Oregon State Land Board Regarding the Potential Sale of the Elliott State Forest
By John A. Charles. Jr. The decision before you today is simply one…
Read Blog DetailOregon Land Board Should Take the Deal
By Lydia White At a time when Legislators threaten to slash government services…
Read Blog DetailChallenges to Free Expression and Academic Integrity on Campus
Join Cascade Policy Institute for an evening with special guest Dr. Jacqueline Pfeffer Merril,…
Read Blog DetailEducation Savings Accounts: Review and Evaluation of a Universal ESA in Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Education Savings Accounts deposit a percentage of…
Read Blog DetailOregon Politicians Support Better Roads, Just Not Here
By John A. Charles, Jr. Recently the Oregon Legislature held a hearing on…
Read Blog DetailThe Greatest Challenge to Traffic Safety? It’s Not Residential Speed Limits
By John A. Charles, Jr. Earlier this week the Oregon House of Representatives…
Read Blog DetailOregon Legislature Should Make It Easier for Individuals to Enter the Landscaping Business
Below is a letter being distributed to all members of the Oregon House…
Read Blog DetailProposed Oregon ESA Law Would Offer Students Choices While Breaking Even for Public Schools
By Steve Buckstein Senate Bill 437, under consideration this legislative session, would offer…
Read Blog DetailEducation Savings Accounts Can Help Students Without Hurting Public Schools
By Steve Buckstein School choice programs allow students to choose schools or other…
Read Blog DetailNew Report Analyzes Fiscal Impact of Proposed Oregon Educational Opportunity Act
— Education Savings Account (ESA) program awaits Senate action April 13, 2017 Media…
Read Blog DetailArizona’s Universal Education Savings Account Law: A “Breakthrough” in Education Financing for Students Today
By Kathryn Hickok Six years ago, Arizona became the first state to pass…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Regarding Senate Bills 432, 602, 608, 612 and 618
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr. President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute Regarding…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Regarding Senate Bills 432, 602, 608, 612 and 618
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr. President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute Regarding…
Read Blog DetailEducational Choice: An Economic Development Catalyst for Urban Neighborhoods
By Kathryn Hickok A case study on urban renewal suggests that private and…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Before the Senate Business and Transportation Committee in Support of SB 656, SB 657, and SB 659
Testimony of John A. Charles, Jr. President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute Before…
Read Blog DetailSelling Bonds to Buy the Elliott State Forest Would Be a Breach of Fiduciary Trust
By John A. Charles, Jr. State Treasurer Tobias Read has announced that he…
Read Blog DetailHow Portland’s Inclusionary Zoning Policy Makes Development Less Affordable
By Lydia White The City of Portland’s inclusionary zoning* requirements have turned a…
Read Blog DetailLet’s Build Some Highways
By John A. Charles, Jr. Oregon stopped building new highways in 1983 when…
Read Blog DetailIt’s Finally Time to Sell the Elliott State Forest
By John A. Charles, Jr. At the February 14 meeting of the State…
Read Blog DetailNow Is the Time: Oregon’s Educational Opportunity Act, The Power of Choice
By Steve Buckstein Oregon now has the chance to become an early adopter…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Before the House Committee on Health Care in Support of HB 2128
To: Chairman Greenlick and members of the House Committee on Health Care From:…
Read Blog DetailTestimony Before the House Committee on Revenue in Opposition to Tobacco and Inhalant Nicotine Tax Bills
To: Chair Barnhart and members of the House Committee on Revenue From: Steve…
Read Blog DetailThe Road to Success Travels Through 3rd Grade Reading
By Kathryn Hickok Denisha Merriweather failed third grade twice. Today, she is finishing…
Read Blog DetailOregon Taxpayers, Not Riders, Pay Most Costs of Public Transit Operations
By John A. Charles, Jr. In a recent interview with the Portland Business…
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