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Dear Friends,
We are now into the fourth month of the 2009 75th Legislative Session. The legislators are all on watch for the May Revenue forecast due out the 3rd Friday of April. We are hoping that you all paid your income taxes and that you made more money than we expected so we can fund education, public safety, senior programs and special need citizens. The rumors are now that the revenue may be closer to $5 billion shortfall. Below, I provided you with the options that are being considered by the Ways and Means Co-chairs to try to balance the State Budget. I can report to you that there have been
no bills on the House floor which propose any suggestions like those from other states which I included in my last update to cut government spending or to implement tax incentives to small businesses. We are all hoping for some balance by the leadership to address our economic recession.
Sincerely,
Gene Whisnant
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Ways and Means Education Subcommittee: On Monday and Tuesday, we received the Oregon Student Assistant (OSA) Commission 2009-2011 budget presentation. The OSA reported on the increased higher education support the legislature was able to fund last session and for which I advocated and voted for. We expanded Opportunity Grants for 11,000 more students in 2008-2009 than in 2007-2008 and doubled the total grant funds disbursed to students in the same period. We also increased funding for the Aspire program which mentors students on applying for college and grants. On Wednesday and Thursday, we held public hearings on the Community College and Workforce Development 2009-2011 budget. I am a strong supporter of our 17 community colleges and believe we continue to underfund this important economic stimulus. Community colleges in the last budget received approximately $500 million (50%) from the State General Fund, $340 million (30%) from student tuition, and $250 million (20%) from local property taxes. On Thursday, Dr. Jim Middleton, President of Central Oregon Community College, briefed the committee on the high growth of admission applications which he has been forced to cap due to space and budget limitations. Chemeketa Community Colle
ge described their situation with growth and budget limitations. They did report on the success of their “online program” which has approximately 1,000 course sections and 20,000 enrollments. Chemeketa offers eight associate degrees and 13 certificates which can be completed by a student without enrolling in a face to face class. This is the type of innovation which we need to hold down the cost and increase assess to higher education.
House Judiciary Committee: Two important bills came out of Judiciary Committee and then passed in the House this week. HB 2827 extends the civil statute of limitation on child sexual abuse claims. The bill allows victims to file civil lawsuits anytime before they turn 40. HB 2641 makes it a crime for sexual predators to use text messaging to lure young victims. I was a sponsor of these two bills and voted in favor of both of them.
HB 2897 requires the court to make “written findings” when the courts do not agree with the DHS recommendation to place a child or ward with relatives. This is a bill which I introduced as a strong advocate for placement of children with relatives and based upon my knowledge of the benefits of placement with relatives. A work group represented by Legislative Counsel, DHS, the courts, and the Attorney General and I drafted language to provide the bill I sought with minimum impact on the courts.
HB 2188 passed the House 34-25 on April 1, 2009. This bill is directed at mortgage brokers only and is intended to protect the consumers. In fact, it applies only to state regulated mortgage brokers and does not provide consumers all the protections that should be in place. It does not include state chartered banks or credit unions. I am advised that the bill may be amended in the Senate to provide the consumer all the protections needed. I voted NO on HB 2188 as written.
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BUDGET/ECONOMIC RECESSION
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The latest 2009-2011 budget shortfall “rumor” is $4.4 billion. Editorial Comment: Remember the March Revenue Forecast was a $2.9 billion shortfall. I believe it will be higher and I believe that the 2007-2009 budget will also need to be rebalanced after we receive the May Revenue Forecast. The Ways and Means Co-Chairs have proposed four scenarios to deal with the revenue shortfall.
Scenario 1 would use $911 million of Federal Stimulus Funding which would lower the $4.4 deficit to $3.49 billion. The remaining $3.49 billion deficit would be shared by state agencies and programs in the form of across-the-board cuts totaling 20.9 %.
Scenario 2 would add $393.3 million from the Education Stability Fund’s 2007-09 balance to the $911 million from the federal stimulus money. The remaining $3.10 billion deficit would be shared by state agencies and programs in the form of across-the-board cuts totaling 18.5 %.
Scenario 3 would add $339.8 million from the Rainy Day Fund to the $911 million and the $393.3 million discussed in scenario 2. The remaining $2.76 billion deficit in scenario 3 would be shared by state agencies and programs in the form of across-the-board cuts totaling 16.5 %.
Scenario 4 adds $179 million from the Education Stability Fund’s 2009-11 deposits to the $911 million, $393.3 million and the $339.8 million discussed in scenario 3. The remaining $2.58 billion deficit in scenario 4 would be shared by state agencies and programs in the form of across-the-board cuts totaling 15.7 %.
These scenarios will result in cuts to state agencies, services and programs. To offset these negatives, there will be many new revenue proposals. The legislative leadership continues to look only at cuts, borrowing, federal stimulus (taxes), and new Oregon taxes.
I was hopeful that the legislative leadership would seriously consider the House Republican stimulus plan, HB 3095 known as the “Main Street Incentive Program” which encourage home and business owners to invest in improvements to their property immediately through a tax credit. The bill was given a cursory hearing yesterday. Immediately after the hearing, Majority Leader Mary Nolan (D- SW Portland) issued a press release describing the proposal as “More Park Place than Main Street ,” alleging that the program would only encourage businesses or
rich people to make improvements and that House Democrats are "concerned with having an equitable distribution" [of funds].
I guess I have a different view of stimulus. There are 236,000 unemployed Oregonians and we need incentives to create jobs now. I believe that individuals want to spend their money on what they consider to be a good investment. If the Main Street bill passed and a business decided to use the tax credit to re-pave their parking lot, Oregonians would be put to work. House Democrats are trying to make the Main Street program sound like a program only for the rich by using the example that a rich homeowner could use the tax credit to put a new pool in their back yard. There's nothing wrong with
that - as my colleague Rep. Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg) explained, if a "rich person" decides to put a pool in his backyard, he's not going to hire other rich people to do it.
I heard from constituents who said this would help them put on a new roof, add solar heating systems, install a more energy efficient heating system, make that capitol improvement to their business, improve their septic system, or hook up to a sewer system. If you think that the “Main Street Initiative” would help stimulate the economy by creating more jobs which result in more pay checks, please email Majority Leader Nolan(rep.marynolan@state.or.us) that you would use this incentive even though you don't live on Park Place.
Wednesday was Oregon Cities Day at the Capitol. Rep. Whisnant met with Sisters, Mayor Lon Kellstrom and City Manager Eileen Stein; Prineville Mayor Mike Wendell; and Bend Council members Tom Greene and Jodie Barram.
Please feel free to contact my office on any issues you would like to be brought to our attention, or to give your opinion on any legislation that is before your State House right now. We want to hear from you and make sure we are doing what we can for you here in Salem.
Our office phone number is 503-986-1453; our email is rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us; our mailing address is 900 Court St NE H-471 Salem OR 97301.
GO TARHEELS!
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900 Court St. NE, H-471, Salem Oregon 97301