Oregon does not have a revenue problem. It has an accountability problem.
Oregonians are asked to pay more and more for a government that too often delivers less and less.
Taxes rise. Fees multiply. Budgets grow.
Yet too many basic services still fail to deliver. Major projects run over budget, fall behind schedule, or never produce what taxpayers were promised. Billions of public dollars can move through sprawling agencies and programs with little clear accounting of what Oregonians received in return.
And when government falls short, the answer is almost always the same: more money.
Another tax. Another fee. Another program. Another promise that this time, with just a little more, government will finally deliver.
Cascade Policy Institute rejects that cycle.
Oregon’s first obligation is not to find new ways to collect more money. It is to set priorities, account for the billions it already spends, and prove that public programs are producing results.
Government cannot be accountable when failure is rewarded with larger budgets. It cannot be transparent when taxpayers cannot clearly see where their money went. And it cannot claim to have priorities when every new demand becomes another reason to spend more.
Oregonians work hard for their money. Families make tradeoffs. Businesses control costs. People decide what matters most and live within limits.
Government should not be exempt from those same basic realities.
What Cascade believes
- Priorities come first. Government cannot do everything. Essential services and core responsibilities should come before political wish lists, special interests, and programs that fail to deliver.
- Every dollar should be accounted for. Oregonians deserve to know where public money goes, why it was spent, and what measurable result it produced.
- More spending is not the same as better government. A larger budget means nothing if schools, infrastructure, public safety, and other essential services continue to underperform.
- Failure should have consequences. Programs that work should be protected. Programs that fail should be changed or ended. Government agencies should not be rewarded with larger budgets simply because they spent everything they were given.
- Government should keep the promises it makes. Unfunded pension liabilities and other long-term obligations do not disappear when politicians ignore them. They crowd out essential services and shift today’s costs onto future taxpayers.
- Taxes have real consequences. Every additional tax and fee leaves families with less to save and spend, workers with less reward for their effort, and businesses with less ability to hire, invest, and grow.
What better policy looks like
Better tax and budget policy starts with priorities, transparency, and measurable results.
It means funding essential services first. It means knowing where public money goes and demanding proof that it produced value. It means confronting waste and failure instead of hiding them inside larger budgets. It means making sustainable promises and dealing honestly with long-term obligations.
Most importantly, it means reversing the assumption that taxpayers are an unlimited source of new revenue whenever government fails to control costs or set priorities.
Public money is not government’s money. It comes from people who worked to earn it, families making decisions about their own futures, and businesses creating jobs and opportunity across Oregon.
Before Oregon asks taxpayers for one more dollar, government should account for the billions it already spends.
