BerniePDX / Portland for Bernie

Tell your Oregon State Rep: Striking workers and their families should not be pushed into poverty for exercising their legally protected right to strike!

Our Local Budgets Should Reflect Our Values. With pending budget cuts at the City of Portland and Multnomah County, our leaders need to hear our priorities. Email local leaders here and urge them to prioritize housing justice!

We all want to live in a city where everyone has a safe place to call home. A growing shortage of affordable housing has forced many Portlanders to live outside. Let’s Ensure Local Budgets are working to House People.

Gaza stands on the brink of forced famine. Israel has closed border crossings for over 2 months, blocking any humanitarian aid from entering. 

Now Israel is threatening to expand its military attacks to violently take over all of Gaza. As Israel’s largest military funder, the United States has the power to ensure humanitarian aid access and stop the genocide. 

TAKE ACTION NOW: Call Congress. It only takes a few minutes. Tell your representatives to demand immediate opening of ALL border crossings for unrestricted humanitarian aid delivery.

Join BerniePDX, the Portland Association of Teachers, and Oregon Working Families Party to canvass for FOUR incredible School Board candidates! Christy, Rashelle, Jorge, and Stephanie will fight for students and ensure that more school funding goes into the classroom, not admin salaries. Come meet the candidates and knock doors with us at 1pm on May 10. 

WHAT: BerniePDX & PAT School Board Canvass
WHEN: Saturday, May 10, 1-4:30pm
WHERE: Creston Park neighborhood, off the parking lot at SE 47th Ave and Powell

The time for action is now – Sign here! Mayor Wilson is proposing to cut every other public service EXCEPT PPB In a time when we should be making cuts to police and investing in the services and programs that truly make our communities safe.

The current proposed budget increases police funding from the General Fund by $12 million, bringing the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) total budget to $318 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. PPB is the city bureau with the largest share of the General Fund—34% in 2024-2025—and the 2025-2026 proposed budget will bring it to 38%. This is all while Portland is looking at a huge $65 million budget deficit!

Sign the petition to join nurses in demanding Congress and the current administration protect workers and our communities by reinstating NIOSH.

The current administration has effectively shut down a small but critical federal agency that helps protect the lives of millions of workers across the country.

NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has been a lifeline for workers for more than 50 years. Among many other vital services, NIOSH inspects and certifies respirators like N95s and other personal protective equipment that has saved the lives of countless frontline health care workers – especially at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nurses continue to rely on this expertise to protect us and our patients from infectious diseases every day.

These cuts are extremely dangerous. Without these workplace safety protections, the lives of health care workers and all workers who rely on respiratory protections are at risk.

The White House and its corporate allies want to privatize the Post Office. Email your members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor H. Res. 70 and S. Res. 147 to stand with the Postal Service and its dedicated workforce against the threat of privatization.

The USPS belongs to the people, and they deserve a Postal Service that remains true to its public mission to serve every community across the country. Any efforts to sell off the Postal Service, in whole or in part, or to strip it of its independence or public service mission would drive up prices and lead to reduced service.

The City of Portland recently announced that the contract for Multnomah Safe Rest Village (MSRV) will be transferred from Sunstone Way, represented by AFSCME Local 1790, to Urban Alchemy, a non-union employer with concerning practices as an employer and service provider.

Write Mayor Wilson and the Portland City Council and tell them to ensure the City of Portland continues to contract Sunstone Way to run MSRV in the interest of prioritizing unionized labor and providers who lead with a trauma-informed approach.

Mark your calendar for the Keep Oregon Nuclear-Free Day of Action on May 19. Whether you can make it to Salem to meet with your legislators in person, or join a virtual meeting, we need your help to ensure that the Oregon legislature hears loud and clear that Oregonians do not want costly and dirty new nuclear reactors in our state.

HB 2410, would exempt Umatilla County from the statewide moratorium on building new nuclear reactors, allowing small modular nuclear reactors to be built in the county.

HB 2038 would require the Oregon Department of Energy to study nuclear power. This is an unnecessary distraction from the real challenge of meeting Oregon’s clean energy goals. 

These bills divert funding from energy efficiency, renewable energy, and storage technologies that are safer, less expensive, and faster to deploy. RSVP for the Day of Action here – attend virtually from home if you can’t make it to Salem!

Write your legislators here.

Read the letter that eight Portland City Councilors wrote in support of HB 2966.

From our friends at Cultivating Solutions: Oregon’s House Bill 2966 aims to establish a task force that will study and recommend options for public banking and other public financing solutions in our state. Publicly-owned financial institutions have a proven track record of reinvesting in affordable housing and community development, fostering growth and resilience in local economies.

Public financial institutions have the potential to address systemic inequities by prioritizing underserved communities, including low-income residents and minority-owned businesses, in their lending and investment practices. In addition, they ensure that public dollars are used to benefit the people they serve, offering greater oversight and alignment of financial activities with community needs.

States across the political spectrum—including Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—are exploring or implementing similar options. Let’s get this done for the good of all.