By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation Oregonians who use natural gas could see their rates increase by nearly 10 percent if regulators grant a request from NW Natural—its second rate hike in three years. The average residential rates would increase from $63 to $70 a month, according to the Portland Business Journal. If approved, commercial…
The State of Utah was tired of people drawing endless unemployment benefits at a time when 10 million vacant jobs went ignored. They required all long-term people receiving unemployment benefits to attend a class on how to look for a job or a class on job training. The simple requirement of asking people to attend…
The homeless may go hungry in the Oregon Coast town of Brookings after the City Council prohibited churches from providing them with meals more than twice a week. This is similar to when a Gresham church ran into opposition in 2016. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church began serving four meals a…
In the six previous years that Oregon measured how many of its students entered 10th grade on track, it was never lower than 78.5% — and that group of students went on to post a graduation rate of just 77%, second worst in the country in 2017. In 2020, the share of Oregon high school…
Oregon state government accidentally sent 40,000 vaccine records to the state’s two largest newspapers — The Oregonian and the Salem Statesman Journal. It meant to send just data totals but ended up sending the entire files. Oregon Department of Administrative Services said it was a “mistake”. This follows a pattern of mistakes by Oreon State…
Oregon has been rated as the nation’s worst hospital capacity per capita with its staffing shortage crisis as a leading culprit. While patients are dying waiting in line, Oregon governor Brown has approved nearly $200 million bonus for government staff. This does not include the up to $1,500 bonus for those government employees who worked…
Private universities in Portland are seeing an increase in enrollment this year, possibly because people are tired of sitting at home and yearning to learn in classrooms on campuses. Some of those registering this year deferred enrollment in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to NPR, private colleges saw a dip in enrollment last…
Fraudsters, scammers, business owners and sex offenders have used fake court orders to force social media and search engines like Google to remove information they find offensive—a practice that federal lawmakers intend to stop. Whey they want to authorize illegal wire taps or surveillance or force removal of online content, they’ve simply copied and pasted…
Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians were left unemployed due to the government-mandated shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oregon Employment Department had a (fully predictable, preventable) system crash during the pandemic. The Department was faulted by media for letting employee sit idle all day long, sometimes playing video games, due to mismanagement. Then It’s phone…
As new opportunities emerge for private space travel, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) eyes the opportunity for a new tax. The Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions (SPACE) Tax proposes a new excise tax on flights into space for purposes other than scientific research. NASA would qualify for exemptions. According to Blumenauer, the tax includes a tier…