Alliance affiliates Oregon Action and Center for Intercultural Organizing are key organizations in the newly formed Oregon Health Equity Alliance (OHEA), which officially launched their 2013 legislative campaign at a celebration in Portland on November 29th. Continue reading
Alliance for a Just Society affiliates organized actions in response to the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, helping to frame the debate moving forward. Here are a few highlights of the coverage from Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Main Street Alliance: Continue reading
Congress is locked in a budget battle that’s grabbed round-the-clock media attention. Lost in the coverage are the real stakes in the debate, including the lives of the more than 50 million people covered by Medicaid, which is now in the budget-cutting cross-hairs. More than half of these 50 million are people of color. Racial disparities in health coverage have already reached alarming proportions. Cuts to Medicaid would make these disparities even worse, taking a toll on the real lives of real people. The experiences and perspectives of some of these real people are captured in Medicaid Makes a Difference: Protecting Medicaid, Advancing Racial Equity, from the Alliance for a Just Society and 14 members of its Health Rights Organizing Project, a network of grassroots organizations across the country committed to the fight for health equity. Continue reading
On Tuesday, January 25th, in Medford, Oregon, tucked into the hills of the Southern Cascade mountains, 28 people came together to discuss a radical concept: a bank that works to pool the resources of the community rather than to extract it and send it to Wall Street investors. Their interest was piqued by the two proposals currently in the Oregon State Legislature to create a state bank, modeled after the Bank of North Dakota, that would be owned and operated by the people of Oregon. Continue reading
This post was written by Dan Lombardi, small business organizer for the Main Street Alliance of Oregon.
On Wednesday, January 12, the Main Street Alliance of Oregon held a press conference in the state capitol of Salem to announce the release of a report: Direct from Main Street: Oregon Small Business Views on Credit and Lending. The report asked 116 Oregon small business owners and small family farmers about their experiences, since the recession began, with credit and lending. It also asked them for their perspective on one proposal to address the credit crunch: the creation of a state bank that would partner with local financial institutions to support small business lending and community economic development. Continue reading
For nearly ten years, the wealthiest Americans have been getting a free ride in the form of tax cuts, tax breaks, and loopholes. This fall, Congress is expected to take up discussions around the Bush Tax Cuts and NWFCO affiliates in Montana, Oregon, and Washington are working with the Americans for Responsible Taxes to ensure that the current tax cuts for top 2% of Americans (individuals earning over $250,000 a year) expire, and that tax cuts for the middle class are made permanent. Continue reading
Twenty-seven leaders from grassroots organizations in six states came together in Seattle during three very hot days in early July to launch NWFCO’s newest training program, the Justice Leadership Academy (JLA). Continue reading
