Jumpstarting the Oregon System: People-first Policymaking
Oregonians need to help build the system they will use, guide how the gains of improved well-being are reinvested, and let us once again show we have more in common than not.
I’m a 5th generation Oregonian, my great grandfather served in the Oregon legislature. My PhD is in Public Administration from Portland State.
Most people won't read this. In fact, many of those who click on this post or receive Oregon Way emails, I suspect, will glance through it, look for salient points, and then move on.
And that is the nature of Oregon's democracy today. A tweet, a post, and, if you're lucky, a short op ed generally reinforce existing stratified and reified political ideology.
Bear with me, this isn’t all bleak.
Probably what is disturbing to me more than anything else is that we're not talking about truly important things in the political arena. We’re shouting over who is right and looking for substantiation for positions we already hold, rather than seeking to learn and understand. If “conflicts sell,” then so does certainty. Our media rewards conquering and winning at all costs, while deep needs go unattended.
An ideologically-frozen media landscape is part of what is frustrating our state’s ability to tackle big issues. Oregon’s policy innovation has been in existence for over 100 years, going at least as far back as William U’Ren’s Oregon System, which fostered tremendous democratic participation via the initiative and referendum. But in recent years, I think our engine of innovation has stalled out.
For example, we had the potential to continue some significant healthcare reform, but the reality is we are stuck. I helped craft SB 770, which created the Task Force on Universal Health Care, and managed to pass in 2019, even with the walkouts of Senate Republicans. My hope was that it would re-open the doors to innovation. But unfortunately it was doomed from the beginning.
Despite the efforts of the thoughtful members and leaders of the Task Force, it has been missing the thing that makes Oregon’s political culture unique: the direct democracy part. Unfortunately, a pandemic stopped that prospect. And now, the report is due to the legislature in a couple months, with little time for more engagement.
Reviving the public participation that fuels our innovation is critical. People need to be at the center of these discussions. Not a committee of representatives or a group thinking mostly about the status quo, but everyday people, employers, farmers, single parents, people of color.
For health care improvements to happen we must have control over the choices about our health in consultation with the best available information. It should not be the government or an insurance company, nor our employers or income that moves Oregon towards becoming a healthier state.
It isn’t programs, cajoling, bureaucratic barriers, or regulations that improves health. It’s our environment, our education and income, access to medical care, our sense of control over our lives, and our choices. It is also things we don’t control like genetics and racism.
I know that if experts get out of the way and we listen to the people, then we will hear greater wisdom and simple pragmatic solutions that aren’t being considered. But there is a bit of professional pride that gets in the way and some elected folks don’t seem to trust the views of those they represent. We need to stop thinking about variations of insurance plans and start figuring out the best ways to create health. Ordinary people need to be front and center for reform to work.
Oregonians have shown time and time again that they can make incredibly wise policy choices. For the best long term outcomes, Oregonians need to help build the system they will use, guide how the gains of improved well-being are reinvested, and let us once again show we have more in common than not.
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