Oregonians are relatively poor versus most other states

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Let's see: Oregon government and its representatives in the Federal Government sharply reduce Oregon's once booming timber and lumber industry.  Oregon government locks up land against private building of new homes and regulates against new roads despite growth in population.  It is not difficult to understand why Oregon ranks 48th of 50 U.S States and the District Columbia for lowest median salaries.

To quote Thomas Sowell:  The government can buy a lot of homelessness by simply spending huge sums on it.

Here's a report that Oregon state government is buying housing for refugees:    

Oregon approves $72.8 million for affordable homes for BIPOC communities, seniors, youth

Mean time the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System is under water yet again, which will require even higher taxes to fund - all for the benefit of Oregon's government class:

From the Oregon PERS website:  

Cumulative 2022 and 2023 asset returns of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) were less than assumed (6.9% annually), falling short of expectations by nearly $8 billion.

• In 2022, the OPERF lost 2.01%; in 2023, the OPERF earned 5.98%.

These poor returns reduced the funding ratio and increased the unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) of the fund, which would suggest an increase to rates for the 2025-27 biennium except for the payroll growth experienced 

But rather than let companies access these lands to harvest timber and/or graze the lands for cattle, thereby reducing fuel for wildfires/forest fires, Oregon government instead blames Climate Change for the forest and range land fires and is regulating the energy industry to ultimately prohibit the state from accessing relatively low-cost energies, such as natural gas.

Here's a recent Oregon catalyst article reporting on Oregon government's push to commit the state to energy suicide:

 Oregon forecast: Yearly mass power outages | The Oregon Catalyst 

(posted by Elvis Clark on December 11, 2024)