The OCPP serves as Oregon's best source of information and analysis on economic and fiscal policy, with both long term macro-level research and immediate responses to emerging issues and legislation. Known for its high quality reports and strong reputation for accuracy, the Center has been successful in transmitting highly influential information to the general public - despite the corporatist control of Oregon's major media outlets. Thanks to OCPP, Oregonians have access to data and analysis from a worker/human perspective that counters the corporate/institutional propaganda regularly trotted out as news. As a result, in Oregon, progressive economic and fiscal policy initiatives have a reasonable shot at success.
The Oregon Center for Public Policy(OCPP) is a critical resource for all of us concerned with prosperity, equity, the quality of life and the future for all Oregonians.
The OCPP fills a critical niche in our community, providing solid, reliable data and economic analysis to inform our policy conversations and decision-making.
I'm honored to be serving on the Board, after relying for years on OCPP fact sheets.
As editor of the editorial board of Oregon's largest newspaper for 16 years, a member of the board for 22 years and the board's editorial columnist for 10 additional years, I call the following information to the attention of GreatNonprofits:
The Oregonian (20th-largest newspaper in the United States) has regarded the Oregon Center for Public Policy as the gold standard of factual accuracy and the platinum standard for non- partisan agenda-setting and consciousness raising on a quarter-century series of economic problems and social controversies affecting -- and often afflicting -- the state.
A few specifics: OCPP was the whistle blower that alerted us that the state's corporate minimum tax was a shambles -- and a sham. It was the prime, reliable source for raising public awareness about the actual and projected effects to changes in the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit. It currently leads (in partnership with the League of Women Voters) a remarkable statewide effort to raise civic literacy about the chronic, deep underfunding of public schools and of plausible options to remedy it. It is the honest broker, the go-to source, that assesses what has been achieved in ensuring that all Oregonians have affordable access to health care and, with commendable precision, what remains to be done.
This is a low-budget, very factual, high-impact, community-building operation -- an indispensable tutorial source for policy-makers and citizens alike.