Tax and Budget
QuickPoint! Cascade’s Testimony on Metro Spending $50M, 40 Years, Turning Superfund Site to a Park
By Naomi Inman with Testimony by John A. Charles, Jr. This March, the Metro Council approved the Willamette Cove nature park master plan. On March 12, John Charles testified before the Metro Council meeting on Resolution…
Report: “A Review of Metro’s Regional Passenger Rail Futures Study”
By Randal O’Toole March 2026 Executive Summary In 2024, the Oregon legislature Senate Bill 4701 (Section 503) directed Metro to study the Portland area’s 200 miles of freight rail corridors as potential regional passenger or…
Senate Bill 1511 on 20 Percent Death Tax Loses, Barely
By John A. Charles, Jr. When Governor Kotek announced her “Prosperity Roadmap” in December, she quickly appointed former Republican Senator Tim Knopp as her Chief Prosperity Officer. Given such aspirations, one might…
Will PPS Refuse to Comply with Federal Civil Rights Law?
By John A. Charles, Jr. The United States Department of Education announced on February 17 that it was opening an investigation into Portland Public Schools (PPS) over a complaint that the district’s Center for Black Student…
RGF Freedom Index Results Finalized
As we have done for more than a decade, the Rio Grande Foundation has tracked the votes in New Mexico’s legislative sessions. The 2026 session was a short, 30-day legislative session, but some momentous bills passed (for…
Metro’s Plan for Making Housing More Expensive
By Randal O’Toole High housing prices in the Portland area led to a legislative mandate for Metro, Portland’s regional planning agency, and city governments to develop a strategy to make housing affordable again. Metro’s…
RGF talks to KOAT TV about roads
SB 2 has passed which means that the road issue has been “put to bed” for the time being. The bill which has been signed by the Gov. includes: $1.5 billion in new road spending via a bond (debt) package. This also includes: A…
Testimony: SB 1526 Creates State-Sponsored Nonprofit for Net Zero Projects
By John A. Charles Jr. PORTLAND, OR – John Charles, President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, submitted written Testimony on Wednesday to the Oregon Senate Energy and Environment Committee (EE Committee) regarding a…
ABQ Journal opinion piece: More investigative journalism is a must
The following appeared in Albuquerque Journal on January 11, 2026. The Albuquerque Journal recently made appeals on its pages for donations to increase investigative journalism efforts. Even though the Rio Grande Foundation…
“Oregon System” Sends Governor Back to Square One
By Naomi Inman The final signatures were plunked down on December 30—down on the Secretary of State’s desk. It was a slam dunk for the Oregon System. In less than 50 days, a quarter-million Oregon voters lined up in every…
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