In 2025, the Levin Center conducted a study of all 50 states to examine how legislatures ensure government programs work effectively for citizens. Factors such as legislative oversight committees, routine engagement with executive agencies, collection of casework data, digital transparency tools, and user-centered policy evaluation were of particular importance. The full report can be found here.
State Summary #
The Oregon Legislature shows little evidence of people-centered oversight activity on an institutional level. Online resources suggest that the process for the public to provide testimony directly to committees is somewhat onerous compared to other states. Although plenty of testimony was being given during meetings held by their one committee dedicated to oversight, the Joint Committee on Legislative Audits, it was exclusively testimony provided by members of the executive branch and did not involve any direct users of services.
Oregon has a large open data catalog, as well as a system for annually measuring agency performance on a number for metrics (including citizen satisfaction with certain services).
