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OSPIRG Executive Director Dave Rosenfeld stands up for Oregon consumers, to lower health care costs and watchdog unjustified health insurance premium increases.
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH & EDUCATION
OSPIRG Foundation is an independent, non-partisan group that works for consumers and the public interest. Through research, public education and outreach, we serve as counterweights to the influence of powerful special interests that threaten our health, safety or well-being.
OUR MISSION
With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, OSPIRG Foundation offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. OSPIRG Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation.
OUR TOP PRIORITIES
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing and litigation, OSPIRG Foundation stands up to powerful interests and delivers concrete results.
STANDING UP FOR THE PUBLIC ON HEALTH CARE
As our leaders put the health care reform law into practice, we’re working to promote a more competitive health insurance marketplace that lowers costs for consumers.
PUTTING PUBLIC HEALTH AHEAD OF BIG AG
One in three school-age kids are overweight or obese, yet our government is wasting $16 billion each year on subsidies for sugar-laden, high-fat foods.
CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES
Corporate tax dodgers cost taxpayers $100 billion last year. That’s why OSPIRG Foundation is working to close the loopholes that allow ExxonMobil, Bank of America and others to shift profits overseas to avoid paying their taxes.
THE FEDERATION OF STATE PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUPS
OSPIRG Foundation is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that advocates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.
Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal office in Washington, D.C. On national issues that impact our state, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact — here at home and for the country at large.
OSPIRG Foundation Staff
OSPIRG Foundation is an advocate for the public interest. When consumers are cheated, or the voices of ordinary citizens are drowned out by special interest lobbyists, OSPIRG Foundation speaks up and takes action. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight for the public interest. Find out more about our staff
What's New
Everyone should assume that their social security number has been exposed between this breach and breaches of other major companies’ databases, such as Equifax’s. With that in mind, U.S. PIRG recommends all Americans should use their right by law to freeze their credit reports for free
Our response to Equifax paying a $650 million penalty for exposing the social security numbers of 148 million Americans to identity theft.
The Fifth Circuit head oral arguments in the Texas v. Azar Lawsuit on July 9, 2019. Oregon has a lot at stake if the Affordable Care Act is overturned - hundreds of thousands of consumers will face higher premiums or lose insurance outright, and dozens of important cosumer protections could be rolled back.
Portland typically ranks near the top when it comes to cities with the best public transportation. But according to a new report from OSPIRG Foundation and Frontier Group, an expensive proposal to widen I-5 in the Rose Quarter would run counter to the city’s reputation. The $450 million project would increase highway lanes in the project area by 50 percent, with extra-wide shoulders to potentially accommodate an even higher-capacity freeway in the future.
America’s aging roads and bridges need fixing. Our car-dependent transportation system is dangerous, harms our communities, and is the nation’s leading source of global warming pollution. And more than ever before, it is clear that America needs to invest in giving people healthier, more sustainable transportation options.
Yet year after year, state and local governments propose billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways that often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and key transportation priorities. Highway Boondoggles 5 finds nine new budget-eating highway projects slated to cost a total of $25 billion that will harm communities and the environment, while likely failing to achieve meaningful transportation goals.
Support us
Your tax-deductible donation supports OSPIRG Foundation’s work to educate consumers on the issues that matter, and the powerful interests that are blocking progress.
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You can also support OSPIRG Foundation’s work through bequests, contributions from life insurance or retirement plans, securities contributions and vehicle donations.