As Oregon’s students become more diverse, with a wide range of lived experiences and different racial and ethnic backgrounds, Oregon’s schools are learning to adapt to address those diverse needs. Currently, the Oregon Department of Education’s equity initiatives are aimed at addressing the gaps within education quality for all students. Oregonians are mostly in agreement with this approach and what schools’ priorities should generally be. However, they are divided by ideology on where achievement gaps exist, how they should be addressed, and even some core values of our education system.

As legislators in Salem consider reforming Oregon’s tax system to account for a significant budget shortfall, we asked DHM panelists about the values they associate with taxation. As with most things tax-related, it turns out there are some gripes, grumbles, and sour grapes. In a blind test pitting Oregon’s system against California’s and Washington’s, less than one in ten prefer our current system. Charting a path to tax reform is a high-wire balancing act, one easily derailed by partisan bickering. Perhaps there’s some bittersweet solace to be found in a source of unanimous agreement across all Oregonians, that the middle class and small businesses are getting the short end of the stick.

Read on for more!

As always, you can find us on Twitter and continue the conversation @DHMresearch!

The past year has brought a long-simmering trend in politics onto center stage: increasing polarization and partisanship. For the past few years, DHM Research has monitored an ever-widening divide in perceptions and priorities between Oregon’s Democrats and Republicans. At the same time, the proportion of Oregonians who are not members of either major party continues to grow.

In this political landscape, is there any room for compromise and consensus? Read on below for findings from our first DHM Panel of the year to find out!

As a very long year wound to a close, we gave our panel of Oregonians a break from decking the halls and mourning their favorite pop culture figures by sending out a DHM Panel survey. This month’s focus was Oregonians’ biggest pet peeves and policy wishes: the fascinating, arcane, subtle-yet-important, and just-plain-bizarre societal changes you dearly wish to see enacted—or at the very least asked about in a DHM Panel survey.

The legal cannabis industry is projected to top $7 billion in national sales this year—that was before voters in eight additional states tallied their support for legalized recreational or medical marijuana on November 8, 2016. Including Oregon, eight states have legalized recreational marijuana, while 29 have done so for medical use. Despite growing support for legalization and the industry’s robust economic growth in states permitting recreational use, only a small percentage of banks and credit unions currently accept deposits or provide banking services to marijuana-related businesses.

To better understand how the public views this dynamic, DHM Research and banking industry experts LT Public Relations partnered on groundbreaking research using Oregon—our own backyard—as a case study. The state legalized recreational marijuana on July 1, 2015, and as our study showed, Oregonians aren’t shy about their use: 26% said they had used a marijuana product in the last 30 days. Additionally, Governor Kate Brown has signed a bill that removed any state criminal liability from banks and credit unions that choose to do business with legal marijuana businesses.

From November 10 to 17, 2016, we surveyed nearly 800 Oregon residents regarding their opinions of the marijuana industry, financial institutions, and how collaboration between the two would shift their perceptions. Asked if their impression of their financial institution would change if it held deposits and made loans to various industries, Oregonians indicated that they see a partnership between financial institutions and legal marijuana-related businesses as desirable. Nearly nine in ten (87%) said that offering financial services to the legal marijuana industry would either not alter or improve their impressions of their financial institution.

For further analysis, please download our white paper or press release about the findings of the survey. You can also download the above infographic here. Please direct all media requests to eszamborski@dhmresearch.com.

As always, you can find us and continue the conversation @DHMresearch!

About DHM Research

DHM Research is a non-partisan and independent public opinion and policy research firm with offices in Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The firm has been providing opinion research and consultation throughout the Pacific Northwest and across the United States for over three decades. DHM Research is a certified woman-owned minority business.

About LT Public Relations

LT Public Relations is a comprehensive communications firm based in Portland, Oregon. The firm partners with clients across the United States to deliver individualized communications strategies and relevant, results-oriented public relations initiatives. More information is available at www.ltpublicrelations.com.

In the October 2016 DHM Panel, we asked Oregonians how they felt about the impending election. Everyone agreed on at least one thing: this election season was terrible. But as for why and what comes next? Oregonians are still divided.

With one week to go before the 2016 election, DHM partnered with FOX 12 (KPTV) for a final read of Oregonians’ views on several major races.

From October 25 to 29, 2016, DHM conducted a telephone survey of 504 voters. The survey polled voters’ choices for president, governor, and secretary of state, as well as support for Measure 97.

See below for our results and methodology. As always, we’re happy to answer questions on Twitter @DHMResearch.

DHM & FOX 12 2016 Election Poll Annotated Questionnaire & Methodology

DHM & FOX 12 2016 Election Poll Cross Tabs

In the September 2016 DHM Panel, we asked Oregonians about their perceptions of healthcare, including the Affordable Care Act. The results indicate that Oregonians have mixed feelings about the Affordable Care Act, but desire additional changes to our healthcare system.

As Oregon heads back to school, we asked our DHM Panel about their perceptions and priorities for public education. The survey was conducted from August 11-17, 2016, and included 598 Oregonians. Results were weighted by age, gender, area of the state, political party, and level of education to ensure a representative sample. The margin of error for this survey ranges from +/-3.7% to +/-4.1%.

Some clear takeaways emerged when it comes to Oregonians’ priorities about public education. Their back-to-school wish list might read something like this: focus on K-12, educate beyond workplace preparedness, and reduce class sizes. See below for full analysis.

We also asked questions about community college. Our results suggest that Oregonians view community colleges favorably, see them as providing a unique and important role in preparing young people for the workplace, and desire more funding for these institutions. Read on for more!

Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter for more results from our “Back to School” edition of our DHM Panel. We’re also happy to answer any questions you may have — find us @DHMResearch!

Downloads:

• Public Education Priorities
• Community Colleges
• DHM Full Survey Results

For the July edition of the DHM Panel, we sought to get a better understanding of how Oregonians view our past, present, and future. Our online panel regularly provides Northwest residents with the opportunity to weigh in on issues that affect their state, community, and daily lives.

Our findings indicate that Oregonians remain divided — some things are timeless — by political affiliation, geography, education and age. Read on below for the full take!

We’re always happy to answer questions on Twitter — find us @DHMResearch!

To download the above document click here: July 2016 Panel

Full results for the survey can be found here: DHM Panel Survey — Blogpost — Annot — July 2016