Higher PERS costs loom despite stock market gains
PORTLAND — The actuaries for Oregon’s public pension have released the most up-to-date valuation of the retirement system, a good news/bad news report that will play out statewide in 2019,…
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Oregon public employee gets first refund of union fees after Janus ruling
By Ted Sickinger – The Oregonian/OregonLive An employee at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has won the first refund of mandatory union fees stemming from a U.S. Supreme Court…
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Kate Brown forms 2 new PACs, adding to political spending haze
By Hillary Borrud – The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon’s web of political spending is becoming ever more complex ahead of the November election. Gov. Kate Brown took the unusual step of forming a separate political…
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Measure 103, ban on grocery taxes, is a reaction to Measure 97
By Mike Rogoway – The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon grocers want to extend their winning streak. They spent more than $7 million in 2016 to beat back Measure 97, which sought to raise…
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Portland Climate-Change Tax on Big Businesses Qualifies for November Ballot
By Aaron Mesh – Willamette Week A measure that would create a Portland tax on businesses to fund renewable energy projects will appear on November ballots. The proposal, first reported…
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Governor’s race is up for grabs
The Register-Guard A Portland pollster quoted in The (Portland) Oregonian expressed surprise that a blue state like Oregon would have a neck-and-neck governor’s race, as revealed this week in a…
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Editorial: A framework to assess ballot issues
The Corvallis Gazette-Times Oregon voters will be facing an unusually light load of statewide ballot measures in this November’s election. Just five statewide measures appear to have qualified for the…
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Our view | Worth considering public pay initiative
The East Oregonian A proposed ballot measure for 2020 would force Oregonians to have a serious discussion about the role of public employees. A self-described government watchdog group called Priority…
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Report knocks Oregon property tax system
Claire Withycombe/Capital Bureau – Portland Tribune The new report, released Wednesday, examined Oregon and three other states – Michigan, Massachusetts and New York – with limits on property taxes. SALEM…
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Editorial: A bad push for pay equity
The Bend Bulletin The idea may sound good: Public employee pay and benefits shouldn’t be greater than those for similar private-sector jobs. That’s the theory driving sponsors of a state…
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