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OREGON'S COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2008
Financial Highlights, page 12
On June 30, 2008, the State's Governmental Funds reported combined ending fund balances of $4.9 billion. Of this amount, 71.5 percent is available for spending at the state's discretion (unreserved, undesignated fund balance).
So, what does this mean? It means that this paragraph validates the Republican Back To Basics Budget. So, the billion dollar questions are, "Why is this pot of money not being considered? Why does leadership insist these numbers are not real when our state economists and accountants from legislative revenue and legislative fiscal verify this amount? With $3.5 billion available (not that we would use all of it and empty the pot) to help balance the '09-'11 biennial budget, why are we rushing to raise roughly $800 million with tax increases and cut over half a billion from our K-12 education budget?"
The simple answer is, that it is difficult to raise taxes for bigger government and more programs unless you first convince people (the tax payor) that there is a crisis of epic proportion.
Some highlights of some of the proposed tax increases mentioned above:
*HB 2001 - Transportation Bill
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Vehicle registration increase, from $27 to $43
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Title fee increase, from $55 to $77
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Plate fee increase, from $5 to $20/pair
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Fuel, 6 cents per gallon increase
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Commercial registration by weight, 51% increase
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Farm registration by weight, 35% increase
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Mileage tax table increased by 20%
*Just passed the House Floor 38-22
HB 3405 - Business Taxes
- Corporate minimum, from $10 to $100 for both 'c' and 's' corporations
- C-corps with gross receipts above $500,000, an additional minimum tax will be imposed equal to 0.15% of receipts above $500,000 with a cap of $60,000
- For corporate net income in excess of $250,000, your tax rate increases from 6.6 to 8.2%
- Annual corporate filing fee increase from $50 to $100
- Scaling back business energy tax credits on renewable energy projects
This is enough information to cause depression for one newsletter. Maybe in the next one I will cover additional tax and fee proposals.
Sincerely,
Rep. John E. Huffman
State Representative
House District 59
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Senator Ted Ferrioli, Representative John Huffman and Representative Gene Whisnant held a town hall in Crooked River Ranch to give updates on how the session is going and to answer constituent questions on the state budget and other issues. |
Contact Me With Your Needs
Even though I am on four committees and one board, there are many other committees that will debate and pass bills - I won't hear them all. So, if you hear of a bill that concerns you and needs my attention, please email the bill number to me with your concerns and I will investigate.
Sincerely,
REP. JOHN E. HUFFMAN
House District 59
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Committees
Business and Labor Subcommittee On Work Force Development, Vice-Chair
Education
Human Services
Ways and Means Subcommittee On Transportation and Economic Development
Oregon Workforce Investment Board
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Small Portions of:
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