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Ben Straka
Policy Analyst
Ben Straka serves as a policy analyst for the Freedom Foundation. His responsibilities include an array of policy research and reform efforts, primarily centered around labor relations, education and government transparency within the states. In addition, he provides support for the Freedom Foundation’s Outreach program and works closely with the rest of the team to hold local governments and public-sector unions accountable to state residents.
Ben joined the Freedom Foundation in May 2016. He is a native of Eugene, Ore., and a graduate of Corban University, where he studied political science and business.
Big Labor Remains Biggest Foe to Government Transparency
When you consider the unions themselves are responsible for the latter — they and their cronies first broke, then weakened those public records laws in a whopping three out of the last five years — it becomes clear their only goal is to suppress all communication to public employees except their own.
Portland’s bizarre lawsuit against Freedom Foundation ends in embarrassing defeat
It’s been a few months since we announced that, as expected, a Multnomah County Circuit Judge dismissed the city’s suit in its entirety.
Help end Oregon’s union dues skimming from Medicaid
As was announced last month, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving ahead with plans to repeal an illegal regulation that provided legal cover for states to divert union dues from Medicaid payments to home caregivers.
Freedom Foundation proves Portland union guilty of unfair labor practice
A Portland city union violated state labor law by arranging for hate mail to be sent to a worker’s home.
As expected, unions in no hurry to comply with Janus
The Freedom Foundation is well aware that government unions in Oregon aren’t making it easy for their “members” to opt out of dues payments in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.
Unions Imitating Freedom Foundation?
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And if that’s true, a group called “Oregon Public Employees United” must really be impressed by the Freedom Foundation’s outreach efforts.
Media puts more heat on Kate Brown’s disdain for transparency and Freedom Foundation
A week from now, the Oregon Sunshine Committee will be holding a public meeting. One of the committee’s main purposes is to review the hundreds of exemptions under Oregon’s Public Records Laws and eliminate those that are improper.
The Oregonian condemns Kate Brown’s latest attempt to silence Freedom Foundation
In a blistering piece headlined, “Transparency in the post-Janus age,” The Oregonian editorial board on June 30 ripped into Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s latest effort to appease her government union campaign donors by preventing the Freedom Foundation from talking to their members.
Janus puts worker choice, Freedom Foundation on center stage
News outlets across Oregon were eager to pick up on Wednesday’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, and rightly so.
Unions’ disingenuous membership claims don’t tell the real story
Oregon’s public-sector union leaders would have you believe the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, generally expected to end the practice of forcing government employees to pay union fees against their will, will have only a “temporary” effect on their membership ranks and revenue.
