Khushboo Rathore Oregon Journalism Project

Before adjourning last week, Oregon lawmakers passed a controversial bill aimed at finding solutions for the state’s financially challenged public universities, which chief sponsor Rep. Pam Marsh (D-Ashland) says face “fierce headwinds.” The universities have experienced declining enrollment and consistent budget deficits over the past decade. Members of the state’s Legislature hope they can improve […]

A national report released Wednesday gives Oregon an F for how well it protects its residents from online gambling addiction. The nonprofit Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research, or CASPR, gave the state a score of 43 on a scale of 100, placing it in the bottom 10 of 50 states. OJP has previously […]

Oregon is in a housing crisis. The state needs to build 95,000 housing units to compensate for years of underdevelopment and to house its growing homeless population, according to a recent state report. Multifamily units—from duplexes to large apartment buildings—are one of the most efficient ways for Oregon, or any region, to quickly increase housing, […]

Gov. Tina Kotek and state lawmakers have tried to solve Oregon’s affordable housing crisis with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and new programs, including a bill moving through the Legislature that would expand mobile home communities for older residents. “Too many older Oregonians are one emergency away from losing their housing,” Kotek told […]

When Gov. Tina Kotek convened the first meeting of her newly named Prosperity Council on Jan. 22, she told the 16-member panel what she hoped to achieve. “The goals I’ve put forward—about growing our GDP, creating new jobs and supporting the workforce we need for the future—those are very simple goals,” Kotek said. “And they […]

As Oregon public school leaders face reductions in state funding, they turn to their biggest expense to find cuts—about 85% of their budgets go to personnel. This time around, they have more staff to cut: Over the past five years, the number of full-time employees at the state’s 197 school districts has grown by nearly […]

Four-year high school graduation rates in Oregon have inched up, but still remain below the most recent national average. Data released on Jan. 29 by the Oregon Department of Education shows the state reached an 83% graduation rate across the state’s 197 school districts. That mark is Oregon’s highest in a decade. Nationally, a recent […]

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the percentage decline in marijuana tax revenues since 2021. Since 2022, the state’s cannabis taxes have paid for free behavioral health and addiction treatment for more than 35,000 Oregonians all across the state, a first-of-its-kind program. “But plummeting pot prices have resulted in a significant decline in marijuana tax […]

As lawmakers search for a funding solution for the Oregon Department of Transportation, an OJP analysis of Oregon bridge data shows that only 6% of the state’s bridges are in poor condition. Of the 7,183 Oregon bridges used by motor vehicles, 425 are classified as “poor,” meaning part of the bridge has significant damage or […]

While many Oregon farmers pull back amid tariff worries, low crop prices and a difficult labor market, Jeff Newton plans to invest in new hazelnut trees at Christensen Farms near Amity in Yamhill County. Newton, along with other Oregon hazelnut growers, is waiting for a final tally of the volume of nuts they sold in […]