Budget Cuts

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, said Wednesday that the nation’s spending on Medicaid programs is unsustainable, and he urged patience as Republicans in Congress formulate their plan to dramatically reduce spending on the health care program.

Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz told OPB's Dave Miller that he supports President Donald Trump's cost-cutting measures, and discussed potential cuts to federal health care benefits

Oregon’s largest district needs to save tens of millions of dollars going into the 2025-26 school year and could cut about 230 positions.

This year, Washington state faces a significant budget shortfall somewhere between $10 and $12 billion.

You’re going to hear a lot about school funding in 2025 – from the statehouse to your local schoolhouse.

Downsizing Portland State faculty and staff is a key part of the administration’s plan to close an $18 million budget deficit this year.

Salem is far from the only Oregon city to be struggling with balancing its budget amid rising costs and declining revenues. The city’s standing Budget Committee will present its recommendations to the city council during its meeting Monday evening.

Portland Public Schools wants to renew a local tax that already helps pay for hundreds of teachers. Bend-La Pine wants to start a new levy that would offset substantial budget cuts. In Salem-Keizer, option levies aren’t really an option at all.

Oregon’s largest school district is facing a $30 million deficit and the prospect of cutting some 250 positions districtwide. Interim Superintendent Sandy Husk has presented her proposed budget, which the school board will vote on later this month. Schools across the state face budget cuts, citing rising costs, limited state funding, the end of federal COVID relief money, heightened student needs since the pandemic and declining student enrollment. Portland also experienced its first-ever teachers strike in the fall, which resulted in a 14.4% cost-of-living adjustment over the next two years.

School districts all over Oregon are struggling to find the money to fund vital services with declining budgets. Many of those districts are making cuts to library staff, which librarians say has a direct result on educational outcomes for students.