Office of the Senate President   900 Court St., N.E., Room S-201 Salem OR  97301 www.leg.state.or.us/senate/senpres

News Release

 

Contact:    Robin Maxey                                                                  June 15, 2009

                   (503) 986-1605   

                   robin.maxey@state.or.us                                                             

 

Senate President Comments

On May Unemployment Figures

 

“Unemployment in Oregon continues to rise and that’s not good news to the families who are struggling to make ends meet. One respected national economic forecast suggests Oregon will be among the first states to start to recover from the national recession later this year, but we are not out of the woods yet.

 

“This session we have passed legislation to extend unemployment benefits; make more of the unemployed eligible for those benefits; and last week exempted the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits from state taxes. We have passed legislation that will allow an expansion of the Oregon health plan just when more Oregonians need it most.

 

 “By leveraging the use of nearly $2 billion in federal funds for healthcare over the next 4 years, the expansion of the Oregon health plan will also create an estimated 3,600 jobs. The ‘Go Oregon’ jobs package passed early in the session is maintaining and creating jobs all across our state – especially among small and local contractors. The transportation package we approved in May and federal stimulus investments will also give our state economy a boost in the months to come.

 

“I continue to believe that given the opportunity, we as Oregonians will work our way out of this recession and our state will emerge stronger and better prepared than ever for a prosperous future.”