D-Canby
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: March 18, 2003
Contact: Dana Baugher (503) 986-1720
Dave Miller (503) 986-1074
BUDGET COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR SAYS NEXT STATE BUDGET COULD BE ALMOST $3 BILLION SHORT OF ORIGINAL 2001-2003 SERVICE LEVEL
(Salem) The Co-Chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, Senator Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) announced today that the revenue available to the state for the 2003-2005 biennium will be $10.6 billion. The amount is equal to that of 1999-2001 and almost $3 billion less than needed to provide the level of services approved in the original 2001-2003 budget.
“We hope to protect state services for the most at-risk Oregonians in the 2003-2005 budget. Children, the poor, seniors, and the sick – both in rural and urban communities in distress – will be prioritized,” Schrader said.
Schrader also briefed reporters on the process they will use to develop the new state budget. For the first time ever, Schrader said, the committee will prioritize all state programs and services for budgeting purposes.
“This is a very, very different approach,” said Schrader. “First, it allows the public to see what we consider priorities and give us feedback. Second, depending on which way the economy goes, we’ll know in what order programs should be taken off or added -back.
Coupled with the new performance outcomes, the budget process will be history in the making. “In the depths of this horrible economic crisis, we are taking a more thoughtful approach to agency and tax dollar management by requiring performance outcomes and program prioritization,” Schrader said.
“It makes the process more substantive, more meaningful and more fair, and will help us budget much more efficiently in the future, too.”
Governor Ted Kulongoski’s initial budget anticipated about a 14-percent growth rate over the next two years. That figure has been revised downward to an estimated 11-percent in the latest revenue forecast. The Co-Chairs targeted budget for programs is a more realistic 7.7 percent.
The leaders of the Ways and Means Committee also distributed a list of 10 accountability guidelines developed by the panel in recent weeks. The principles range from establishing a sufficient reserve fund to eliminating some vacant positions. Other items include agency performance measurements, limiting pay hikes for state workers, and incorporating savings from PERS reforms.
Schrader said the guidelines do not rule out strategic spending for certain purposes. “Targeted economic stimulus programs will be considered as long as they involve minimal new dollars and emphasize job creation and industry development,” he said.
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