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News Release

Contact:    Robin Maxey                                                                  March 1, 2011

                   (503) 986-1605   

                   robin.maxey@state.or.us                                                             

Senate Sends 2009-11 Budget

Rebalance Bills To Governor’s Desk

(SALEM) – The Oregon Senate gave bipartisan final approval Tuesday to a series of bills appropriating $77 million to complete the rebalance of the 2009-2011 budget.

The plan maintains $5.756 billion funding level for K-12 schools for the current biennium and protects the services outlined by state leaders at the last meeting of the Legislative Emergency Board in December.

“We were hit with a 10-ton boulder in May and another one in August. We worked through the E-Board and managed the shortfall without a special session,” said Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem/Gervais/Woodburn) “We’ve kept our promises. We protected our children by keeping the schools open. We protected the public by keeping criminals behind bars. We’ve taken care of our senior citizens. Our challenge now is to do it all again for 2011-13 and do it on time.”

Passage of the rebalance bills completes the legislative work which began in May 2010 when the quarterly revenue forecast revealed a sudden $577 million drop in expected revenues. In the intervening months, former Governor Kulongoski used his allotment authority to make across the board cuts to state agency budgets while Legislative Emergency Board made use of limited reserves to protect vital services.

“We still have very big challenges ahead in writing a budget for 2011-2013. We will have to make cuts in every area in which the state provides services,” said Senate Ways and Means Co-Chair Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin). “Throughout the public process to follow, we will continue to focus on the priorities of Oregon families: protecting our children, small businesses, and our most vulnerable. With less money and greater need, it’s critically important that we spend every dollar as wisely as possible.”

The five bills approved by the Senate Tuesday now go to Governor Kitzhaber for his signature.