Oregon’s school funding debate has entered a new phase. Last week several school districts and parents sued the state and key legislators demanding more money be spent on public education.

This new lawsuit goes beyond . . . Read more!

Summary

The 2005 Oregon Legislature sought to improve health insurance by adding to the list of procedures and conditions that must be covered. Despite good intentions, insurance mandates increase the costs of health insurance policies, pricing some people out of the market entirely. . . . Read more!

Gresham is the latest Oregon community to do battle with retail giant Wal-Mart. The city rejected Wal-Mart’s first proposal for a supercenter at 182nd and Powell. Now the company is back with a scaled-down plan, but many neighbors still object. They say they’re primarily concerned with traffic congestion.

Portland city commissioner Sam Adams expressed a more troubling concern when he opposed . . . Read more!

A new task force has been appointed to review Oregon’s statewide land-use planning program. This is the first opportunity in 33 years for citizens to address basic concerns about planning, zoning and property rights.

One of the first questions the task force should ask . . . Read more!

Kirby Dyess, vice president of the State Board of Higher Education, stunned her colleagues last week by suggesting that the board sell or close one of Oregon’s seven state universities. The proposal was made in response to ongoing financial problems with the higher education system, caused largely by the skyrocketing cost of employee health insurance and retirement benefits.

None of her fellow board members voted to support the . . . Read more!

Steve Buckstein, Cascade Senior Policy Analyst and founder, was asked to give a presentation before The Dorchester Conference, billed as America’s oldest annual political conference, which took place in Seaside, Oregon the weekend of March 3-5, 2006. Steve’s previous presentations included arguments in favor of school choice and Social Security personal accounts.

This year, Steve spoke in opposition to the . . . Read more!