The tension between Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson over the economic impacts of Preschool for All, which reached a boiling point in June, now merely simmers.

In a June letter , Kotek amped up pressure on Vega Pederson to reduce the marginal income tax on high earners, which funds the county’s initiative to create 11,000 publicly funded preschool slots. (A bill that would have smothered the program entirely died in the Legislature.)

Vega Pederson took some of that pressure to heart. Under her direction, the Board of County Commissioners took on Preschool for All’s finances this summer, convening for a series of conversations about indexing the tax, among other financial proposals.

But little resulted. A technical advisory group meant to advise on

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