The "Your 2 Cents Portland"The "Your 2 Cents Portland" is Portland initiative petition and 2026 ballot measure campaign to finally bring participatory budgeting (PB) to Portland by July 2028. The campaign aims to give all Portlanders (including youth and non-citizens) direct voice and vote on how to spend the equivalent of 2% of the city's general fund discretionary budget through reoccurring (annual or biannual) citywide participatory budgeting (PB). PB is implemented by over 7000 cities worldwide and dozens in the United States including New York and Boston where voters have adopted charter-mandated PB. The Your 2 Cents PDX Charter Amendment builds on New York and Boston will allow the City of Portland to flexibly apply best practices from around the world to advance transformative PB for all Portlanders.
The campaign is currently in motion, aiming for the November 2026 ballot:
Portlanders have advocated for PB for over a decade and City Council failed to act. Community advocacy culminated in a PB charter amendment developed and proposed by the Charter Commission proposed in 2023 which City Council ignored. Portland remains the last major west coast city to launch a municipal PB process and the current city budgeting process remains opaque and inaccessible to most residents. This continues to erode public trust in fiscal management and produce inequitable budget outcomes. Ordinary Portlanders have little say in how public funds are spent and budget decisions favors entrenched interests and their lobbyists. PB Oregon and Next Up initiated the campaign because we believe all Portlanders deserve greater voice and vote over how public funds are spent on their behalf. Ordinary Portlanders need a recurring way to exercise their power and advance their budget priorities. The goal the Your 2 Cents Portland campaign is to deliver on this promise.
Portland remains the last major west coast city to launch a municipal PB process. The current city budgeting process remains opaque and inaccessible to most residents. Public trust in the City’s fiscal management is at an all-time low. Many Portlanders doubt budget outcomes are fair or efficient and ordinary Portlanders have little say in how public funds are spent on their behalf. Entrenched interests, lobbyists, and the loudest voices dominate the process. PB Oregon, Next Up, and East County Rising initiated the campaign because we believe all Portlanders deserve greater voice and vote over how public funds are spent on their behalf. The goal the Your 2 Cents Portland campaign is to deliver recurring PB Process wherein all Portlanders can exercise their power and advance their shared priorities in their City Budget.
Learn more about the Your 2 Cents PDX policy and campaign to bring charter-mandated, voter approved participatory budgeting to Portland.
Donate to the campaign! Every donation helps to build our movement and win in November 2026.