Oregon Legislative Assembly Office of the Senate President Office of the House Speaker

News Release

 

Contact:  Robin Maxey                        Geoff Sugerman                 June 11, 2009

            (503) 986-1605                           (503) 986-1210

robin.maxey@state.or.us         geoff.sugerman@state.or.us

 

Agreement Advances Revenue Bills,

Clears Path for Balanced Budget

 

(SALEM) – Legislative leaders Thursday announced an agreement that cleared the way for passage of two revenue measures in the Senate to help fill the state’s current $4 billion budget gap and provide a dedicated revenue stream for the state’s Rainy Day Fund starting in 2013 and beyond.

 

Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Dave Hunt announced the agreement shortly after the Senate gave final approval of legislation that will add stability and fairness to Oregon’s tax system and help balance the state’s budget and protect important services like schools, health care and public safety.

 

House Bills 3405 and 2649 raise taxes on the wealthiest Oregon households and corporations, nearly two-thirds of which have been paying the corporate minimum rate of $10. . Both passed the Senate Thursday morning on identical 18-11 votes and are headed to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

 

The agreement was the brainchild of Representative Tobias Read (D-Beaverton). It calls for a third bill that will direct a permanent increase in the rate of corporate taxes on income above $10 million annually into the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which was created by the Legislature in 2007. House Bill 2073 will be amended and heard in the House Revenue Committee on Friday.

 

Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Dave Hunt said the agreement paves the way for the session to end by June 30.

 

“With this agreement we can move forward on a budget that protects core state services and adds fairness to our tax system,” said Courtney (D-Salem/Gervais/Woodburn) “It provides revenue we need to weather this perfect economic storm and will help calm the waters in the future with greater budget stability.”

 

“This agreement shows that we continue to work collaboratively to help Oregon through these tough times and set the stage for a strong recovery. Representative Read is indicative of the talent and commitment we have here in the Oregon House. It’s this kind of creativity that will help Oregon recover from this recession stronger than ever before,” said Hunt (D-Clackamas County). “We now have a clear path to a balanced budget.”

 

House and Senate leadership praised Read for coming up with a compromise that was both creative and smart for Oregon. Read said the idea had been percolating in his mind for several days, and when the Senate failed to garner the necessary votes, he proposed the idea to leadership.

 

“Finding ways to protect the long term fiscal stability of Oregon is one of my top priorities. And we know the business community supports use of their tax dollars for this purpose. So it seemed a simple way for all of us to manage our way through this recession and know exactly where our first dollars in the Rainy Day Fund will come from once we recover,” said Read.

 

Originally created in 2007, the Oregon Rainy Day Fund initially used a portion of the corporate kicker as its funding mechanism, a move the business community in Oregon strongly supported. That Rainy Day Fund is helping budget writers fill the $4 billion-plus hole in the state budget. Along with federal stimulus dollars, $2 billion in budget cuts and use of the state’s reserves, the $775 million in revenue approved by both chambers fills yet another hole in the 2009-2011 budget.