Latest news with #EyeonNorthwestPolitics
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Unsustainable': Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek urges Preschool for All changes
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The deadline for parents to accept placement offers just passed. Now, Gov. Kotek is urging county chair Jessica Vega Pederson to consider restructuring how the program is funded. In a letter to the chair, Kotek calls the current direction of the program 'unsustainable.' Currently, Preschool for All is funded by a personal income tax on Multnomah County's highest earners — individuals with a taxable income over $125,000 — and joint filers with an income over $200,000. Kotek says the tax seems to be discouraging top earners from calling Portland home. 'There should have been a statewide tax for preschool. Not a Multnomah County tax that penalizes Multnomah County. We have seen 1,700 higher-income people in the past two years,' said Portland-based businessman Jordan Schnitzer. Schnitzer will be discussing this topic further on the next episode of Eye on Northwest Politics, which airs Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on Portland's CW and at 6 p.m. on KOIN 6. Kotek suggests easing the tax burden on people living and working in Multnomah County through a number of ways, including pausing the Preschool for All tax collection for three years or reducing the tax rate. As it stands now, single filers are taxed 1.5% on taxable income exceeding $125,000. The same rate applies to joint filers with income exceeding $200,000. She also recommends the county figure out what is financially necessary to achieve the original goals of the program, which includes reaching universal access by 2030. Vega Pederson responded to the governor's letter with one of her own, saying in part, 'Our community made a commitment to children, families, preschool providers. Our childcare and early education workforce, as well as our future, when 64% of voters said yes to Preschool for All in 2020.' She goes on to say she will be finalizing a plan to revise the Preschool for All tax in the coming weeks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chief Day talks PPB budget and potential cuts
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland's police chief is fighting for more funding from City Hall ahead of proposed budget cuts. During his sit down on Eye on Northwest Politics, Portland police Chief Bob Day weighed in on City Council budget discussions, which has tentatively approved a $8.5 billion city budget with one topic seeing pushback from different sides: Moving $2 million to either police or parks. Mayor Keith Wilson has said he wants to give the bureau another $2 million to reduce overtime and hire more officers. However, City Council is considering giving the money to the Parks & Recreation Bureau for maintenance. 'You know, sometimes positioning like parks against police, I don't think is a good thing. We really shouldn't be seeing ourselves as one bureau versus another bureau. It really is one city,' Day said, adding 'The impact around public safety though does really begin with law enforcement and the police bureau.' Day also discusses the city's sanctuary status amid pushback from federal authorities and the Trump administration's deportation plans. Watch the full interview in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon Senate President gives update as legislative session nears finish line
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon lawmakers have a lot to decide before the 83rd legislative session ends on June 29. From homeless funding to potential Medicaid cuts to talk of changing Oregon's kicker and more. Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) brought an update on this week's Eye on Northwest Politics, detailing how the legislature intends to navigate a shrinking general fund, trade uncertainty, school districts needing help and other issues. Watch the full interview in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland City Council President Pirtle-Guiney weighs in on cuts to mayor's proposed budget
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland mayor Keith Wilson released his proposed $8.5 billion budget this week. It showed layoffs, fee increases and program cuts to close a $93 million budget gap, while also adding money for public safety and Portland livability. Now it's up to Portland's new 12-person City Council to approve the budget, including president Elana Pirtle-Guiney from District 2. Councilor Pirtle-Guiney — who represents North and Northeast Portland — has been a union organizer, a policy expert for the state, as well as a member of former Governor Kate Brown's executive team. She joined this week's Eye on Northwest Politics to discuss tackling the proposed budget, her take on the mayor's proposed reductions, city workers' threats to strike and more. Watch the full interview in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Portland mayor delivers State of the City address amid housing crisis, budget shortfall
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland Mayor Keith Wilson delivered his first State of the City address Friday afternoon. The speech, held at Franklin High School in Southeast Portland, comes as the city faces a $93 million budget shortfall and a persistent homeless crisis. He's not sugarcoating the situation. Portland woman dies after snorkeling trip in Hawaii Mayor Wilson said he is releasing his budget proposal on Monday, and he says it includes significant layoffs along with increases in fees for some city services. Regarding the housing crisis, the mayor and Gov. Tina Kotek are pushing to suspend system development fees to build 5,000 new housing units over the next three years. Portland man who stabbed woman, set apartment on fire receives 20-year sentence In an interview with KOIN 6 News' Eye on Northwest Politics that will air on Sunday, Wilson said the plan will help solve two of the city's other major problems in addition to housing. 'We have population decline, and we have the worst job creation in the nation,' he said. 'What this will do is to bring good paying jobs back into Portland and start that transformation, or that revitalization that we need, so not only does it address our housing crisis, but it addresses our job creation crisis as well.' Mayor Wilson said the following about the housing crisis in his speech: Last month, Multnomah County released their 'by name' homeless database. It confirms what we've seen on the streets. Our unsheltered homeless population now stands at nearly 7,000 today, far higher than it was just a few short years ago. Emergency sheltering hasn't kept pace, and the shelters we have are effectively full. Legally, logistically, morally… we are the responders. We are responsible for what happens on our streets. If we fail to act, my greatest fear is that we'll see yet another year of record-setting deaths on our streets. That rate was 456 in 2023, the most recent year where we have data. The County Medical Examiner has not yet released numbers for 2024, and 2025 remains unwritten. These are our neighbors, our classmates, and for so many of us, our loved ones. The trend of increasing deaths year over year is clear. If we do nothing, we will let people suffer by the thousands. AS YOUR MAYOR, I CANNOT AND WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS CRISIS AS OUR NEW NORMAL. That's why I ran for Mayor, and why Portland voted for me. We have a moral and political mandate, and we must act. Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue our coverage for this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
