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

News Release

Contact:  Robin Maxey                        Geoff Sugerman                 June 7, 2010

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

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

Legislature Must Have Specific Plan

Before Coming Into Session

(SALEM) – Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Dave Hunt said today the Legislature should not call itself into special session until it has finished analyzing the proposed 9 percent budget cuts and developed a plan to address the worst of the cuts. The leaders indicated they would be voting “no” on calling the Legislature into an immediate session.

The current effort led by Senate Republican Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli to bring the legislature into session before June 14 is “simply premature,” said Hunt (D-Clackamas County). 

“No one has all the facts yet. We don’t know what the federal government will do in terms of aid to schools and human services. We need more time to analyze the proposed cuts and develop a bipartisan solution to buffer schools and other essential services from the worst of these cuts,” Hunt said.  “The Legislature should be fully ready and clearly aimed before we fire off a special session.”

“We should think this through thoroughly and know what we are doing before we rush into battle,” Courtney said. “We need to act decisively. I do not want to keep coming back and back and back into special session for the rest of this year.”

In 2002, the Legislature met in special session five times and ended up approving a funny money borrowing scheme using bonds to pay for six months of operating expenses. Those bonds are still being paid back eight year later.

“The five special sessions in 2002 were a clear example of poor fiscal policy, poor planning, and poor management.  We will not repeat those mistakes,” Hunt said.

In contrast, in 2006, leaders worked together to formulate specific budget and policy proposals and were able to hold a one-day special session.

“What I learned from 2002 is that I never want to do that again,” Courtney said. “What I learned from 2006 is if we have to do it again, we should do it exactly that same way. We had a plan going in. We had the votes. We passed five bills in one afternoon. We avoided turning the people’s business into political theater in the middle of an election year.”

Hunt and Courtney said the Legislature is immediately taking the following initial steps to address the current revenue shortfall.

• House and Senate Leadership are working with Oregon’s Congressional delegation, urging them to approve additional federal funds for education and human services.

· Legislators are contacting their school districts to determine the specific impacts of the Governor's proposed across-the-board cuts -- and what can be done to lessen those impacts.

· The Legislative Branch is taking additional budget cuts and working with the Secretary of State and the Oregon Judicial Department to implement a fair share of cuts in those agencies as well.  (The Governor is not legally allowed to cut the Legislature, Secretary of State, or Judicial Department.) 

· The Legislative Fiscal Office and Emergency Board members will analyze the proposed agency budget cut lists that are due on June 8 and assess what can be done with our $175 million in remaining state reserves to mitigate the worst of these proposed cuts.

“The Legislature is not sitting on the sidelines. We are actively engaged, creating a blueprint for managing this crisis. It would be irresponsible to act before all of the pieces are in place,” Courtney said. “We are talking about phasing in the cuts and considering all options.”

“Just as we have done throughout this global economic crisis, we are approaching this latest revenue decline with a balanced and thoughtful approach. This is no time to panic, especially when the economic news from the first quarter of 2010 has been positive,” said Hunt. “We are seeing business expansion, increased jobs, and clear signs that we have begun to emerge from the depths of the 2009 recession. Now is not the time to panic.”

Oregon’s economy showed strong signs in the first several months of 2010, including:

· Employment is up.  Oregon employers added 3,900 jobs in April; the biggest gain in 30 months. 

· Our employment rate has improved by a full percentage point during the past year. 

· Corporate profits are up.

· Personal tax withholding revenues are up.

· Lottery revenues are up.

“All indications point to a recovering economy in 2010 and much stronger economic growth as we approach 2011. As we just learned from this latest forecast, working our way through this recession is still going to take time and strong fiscal management,” said Hunt. “But we’re not going to repeat the mistakes of the past. We’re not going to panic and we are going to continue doing everything we can to buffer struggling families and our children from the worst of the difficult cuts we are facing.”

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