From January 13-20, 2022, the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center conducted a statewide survey of Oregonians’ values and beliefs, including their perceptions of public finance and their friends’ politics. We’d like to acknowledge and thank DHM Research for providing us baseline questions we benchmarked to determine changes in attitudes over time. The question numbers in this document correspond with the survey questionnaire (Q18-21).
The online survey consisted of 1,400 Oregon residents ages 18+ and took approximately 15 minutes to complete. Demographic quotas and statistical weighting were used to ensure a representative sample. Based on a 95% confidence interval, this survey’s margin of error, for the full sample, ranges from ±1.6% to ±2.6%. Due to rounding, numbers may not add up to 100%.
Respondents were contacted by using professionally maintained online panels. In gathering responses, a variety of quality control measures were employed, including questionnaire pre-testing, validation, and real-time monitoring of responses. To ensure a representative sample, demographic quotas were set, and data weighted by area of the state, gender, age, and education.
This survey uses aggregated data to analyze the opinions of BIPOC residents in comparison to the opinions of residents who identify as white and not another race. BIPOC residents are not a monolith; the grouping represents a wide diversity of races and ethnicities. The findings included in this memo should not be construed such that all people of color are believed to share the same opinions. Disaggregated race data will be provided when sample sizes permit reliability.
Funding Source for Public Services
When asked to name the primary source of revenue that pays for Oregon’s public services, nearly one-half (45%) of Oregonians are unsure. Only one-quarter (25%) know that income taxes are the primary revenue source, while 15% cite “taxes” in general (Q18).
- Men are more likely than women to correctly cite income tax as the primary source of revenue that pays for Oregon’s public services (33% vs. 19%).
- Oregonians with higher income and education levels are significantly more likely to correctly cite the income tax than their counterparts.
- Multnomah County residents are more likely cite the income tax than Oregonians from other areas of the state (36% vs. 23%).
Who Funds Public Schools: State or Local Government?
A plurality of Oregonians (48%) correctly cites the state government as a larger contributor of funding for Oregon’s public schools than local government (40%). Roughly one in ten (13%) are unsure which entity contributes more (Q19).
- Men are more likely than women to correctly cite state funding as contributing the larger part of public-school funding (52% vs. 44%).
- Oregonians with school-aged children in the household are more likely to correctly cite state funding than those without kids (55% vs. 45%).
These results are similar to a 2010 study conducted by DHM Research[1], which found that 40% of Oregonians believed the state government to be a larger contributor of funding for Oregon’s public schools, compared to 33% who cited local government. Unsure responses in 2010 were twice as high as in 2022, indicating that awareness on this issue may have increased.
Lottery Funds and the State Budget
Oregonians believe that lottery funds make up roughly 25% of the 2019-2021 legislatively adopted budget (Q20). In fact, lottery funds make up roughly 1.5% of the budget, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office[2]. In the study from 20101, Oregonians estimated that roughly 19% of the 2009-2011 budget was made up of lottery funds.
- Women estimate that lottery funds make up a larger percentage of the 2019-2021 budget than men (29% vs. 21%).
- Estimates tended to get more accurate among respondents of higher income and education levels.
Oregonians and Their Friends, and Shared Political Beliefs
A plurality of Oregonians (42%) believes that most of their friends share their views on government and politics, whereas 32% say some of their friends share their views, but many do not. Nearly two in ten (16%) say they don’t really know what most of their close friends think about government and politics (Q21).
- Higher income and education-level respondents are more likely to say that most of their close friends share their views on government and politics when compared to other Oregonians.
These findings are interesting in the era of The Big Sort, in which many political scientists contend that Americans are largely self-segregating into like-minded communities, politically speaking. As Bloomberg reported in 2016[1]: “Polarization has increased in the lion’s share of U.S. states. Just three had less political polarization in 2012 than in 1992.”
Demographic Trends
Identifying What Unites Us, Understanding What Divides Us
Reported below are statistically significant subgroup differences between BIPOC and white Oregonians, urban and rural Oregonians, and age groups. Many of these differences are not major and are presented to inform public education and communications initiatives.
- Oregonians of color are more likely than white Oregonians to be unsure of the state’s primary source of revenue that pays for public services (58% vs. 43%) (Q18).
- BIPOC Oregonians estimate that a higher percentage of the state budget comes from lottery funds compared to white Oregonians (32% vs. 24%) but a similar proportion of each group say they are unsure (BIPOC: 34%; White: 32%) (Q20).
- White Oregonians are slightly more likely than BIOPC Oregonians to say that most of their friends share their views on government and politics (43% vs. 36%) (Q21).
- Oregonians in suburban areas and areas described as rural-changing-to-suburban are more likely than their urban and rural counterparts to say income tax is the state’s primary source of revenue (Q18).
- Rural Oregonians are more likely than those in other areas to say state funding accounts for a larger part of public school budgets (53% vs. 45-49%) (Q19).
- Urban Oregonians are more likely than their rural counterparts to say that most of their friends share their views on government and politics (49% vs. 33%) (Q21).
- Younger Oregonians ages 18-29 are significantly more likely than their older counterparts ages 55 and older to say they are unsure of the state’s primary source of revenue that pays for public services (77% vs. 22-28%) (Q18).
- The likelihood that Oregonians correctly identify income tax as the state’s primary source of revenue increases with age, from 8% of those ages 18-29 to 55% of those 75 and older.
- Interestingly, 30 to 44 year-old’s and 45 to 54 year-old’s are the only age groups in which a majority correctly identify state government as the larger contributor of public education funding (54% and 51%, respectively), but are also the two age groups most likely to say they don’t know if the state or local government is a larger contributor (18% and 16%, respectively) (Q19).
- The estimated percentage of how much lottery funds comprise of the 2019-2021 legislatively adopted budget tends to decrease with age, with the youngest Oregonians estimating lottery dollars make up about 36% of the budget, compared to those ages 75 and older who say it’s less than half that percentage (16%) (Q20).
- A majority of Oregonians ages 75 and older say most of their friends share their political views (52%) while only one-in-four say some of their friends share their views but many do not (25%) (Q21).
- Younger Oregonians ages 18-29 are most likely to say they don’t really know what most of their friends think about government and politics (21%) (Q21).
This research was completed as a community service by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center, an independent and non-partisan organization. OVBC is an Oregon charitable nonprofit corporation (www.oregonvbc.org).
For More Information:
[1] Survey conducted October, 2010; DHM Research; N=500
[2]State of Oregon: Blue Book – Government Finance: State Government
[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-25/how-the-big-sort-is-driving-political-polarization
Analysis and Reporting by: Ari Wubbold