Wednesday, October 10, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Brown touts Oregon
environmental legislation
PORTLAND (AP) —
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
on Wednesday, October 3,
announced legislation that
would maintain Oregon’s
water and air quality rules
at the same level or higher
than they were the day before
President Donald Trump took
office.
Oregon Public Broadcast-
ing reports that one of the
goals of the legislation is to
protect public health welfare
from the adverse effects of
pollution and climate change.
With the new legisla-
tion, called the Oregon
Environmental Protection
Act, Brown said she is look-
ing to inspire a national
movement of states to oppose
what she called the “unprece-
dented and aggressive attack”
on clean air and water.
The Trump administra-
tion has undertaken several
actions to overturn or delay
environmental laws from
taking effect, ranging from
carbon-emissions goals in the
Obama-era Clean Power Plan
designed to help the United
States meet international cli-
mate goals to protections for
wildlife — and from regula-
tions of pesticides, ozone and
23
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
mercury to expanding fossil
fuel development on public
lands.
Brown’s proposed legis-
lation focuses on the federal
Clean Water Act and Clean
Air Act. Both are regulated
and enforced at the state
level by Oregon agencies
such as the Department of
Environmental Quality, the
Oregon Health Authority
and the Water Resources
Department. In most
instances, the federal laws
allow states to establish
more stringent environmen-
tal protections than required
nationally.
The governor’s office said,
if passed by the Legislature,
the legislation would main-
tain Obama-era ozone emis-
sion standards, regulate meth-
ane and other pollutants from
landfills, as well as mercury
emissions from the state’s
one remaining coal power
plant and extend water qual-
ity protections to some to the
state’s rivers and streams.
The state Legislature
which is controlled by
Brown’s fellow Deomocrats,
has balked at some new
environmental legislation in
recent years.
— Last Week’s Puzzle Solved —
GOP gubernatorial candidate
lays out education plan
By Andres Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — The
Republican candidate seeking
to become Oregon’s governor
unveiled his education plan
on Friday, in which he would
seek a minimum 15 percent
funding increase in biennium
education budgets, paid for
by cuts in state and local gov-
ernment employees’ pension
plan and health benefits.
Buehler also called on
state and local educators to
achieve a handful of criti-
cal, evidence-based profi-
ciency standards and for
professional development
opportunities for teach-
ers. He also said Gov. Kate
Brown, a Democrat, should
fire a senior education offi-
cial because of mediocre
test results from students in
Oregon.
Under his plan, Buehler
would:
• Require that the
Legislature approve fair and
legally permissible pension
reforms that could redirect up
to $1.2 billion to classrooms
prior to signing any new
spending bills.
• Seek changes for all
state and local government
employees that would include
protection of pension ben-
efits already earned; cap sal-
ary amounts used to calcu-
late benefits at $100,000 per
year.
• Health benefits would be
comparable to those offered
by top employers such as
Nike and Intel. Employee
contributions to the premium
would go on a sliding scale,
based on ability to pay.
• A partially funded Health
Savings Account would be
offered paired with a modest,
health savings account-quali-
fying deductible
Buehler also challenged
Brown to fire state schools
chief Colt Gill after recent
testing showed Oregon scores
remained mediocre.
He also wants to triple the
number of 7th-grade English
language learners who are
English-proficient; move
toward one-third of class-
room staff being culturally
and linguistically diverse,
to better reflect the state’s
growing diversity; and elimi-
nate certification barriers to
allow teachers certified in
other state or who taught in
Defense Department schools.
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