Policy for the People

What does it mean when you have a good job, work full time, and still can’t afford to make ends meet? In this episode of Policy for the People, we meet Lora Edwards, a single mother of four who works full time as a state data analyst. Despite having a career and a steady paycheck, Lora relies on a food pantry twice a month to help feed her family. She describes the difficult choices and relentless budgeting required to make it through each month. We learn about Oregon’s affordability crisis t...

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...

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 ar...

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...

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 groce...