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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1975)
For state employes Legislature may spend more By MIKE DOLAN and DENNIS PFAFF Of the Emerald SALEM — The Legislature may appropriate more money for state employe pay hikes than the amount set forth in controversial HB-5063. HB-5063, which passed the House Friday, gives the state em ployes $91 million in state money for pay raises over the next two years. The governor s negotiators have offered the employes $101 million and the Oregon State Emp loyes Association is holding out for approximately $135 million. Each of these three figures ac tually translates into about twice as much money for the employes because the sum will be matched by other funds including federal grants. Sen. Ed. Fadeley, D-Eugene, has announced his intention to find more money for the emp loyes. Fadeley is a member of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. In a letter addressed to House Speaker Phil Lang and Senate Pres. Jason Boe, and distributed to the press, Fadeleysays the em ployes might be eligible for the payroll money that was budgeted for this year but was not spent. This carry-over amounts to $1.3 million. He also says HB-2006 and HB-2008, which increase some OSEA members to vote on 24 per cent increase SALEM (UPI) — Leaders of the Oregon State Employes Associa tion(OSEA) agreed Wednesday to submit Gov. Bob Straub’s offer of a 24 per cent pay hike to the union's membership. Straub said the decision by the Association's Board of Directors “is the kind of spirit and sense of cooperation that gets results. I hope this cooperation results in a favorable vote by the OSEA membership." The OSEA leaders had previously refused to submit the offer to the membership, saying the state must agree instead to the 27 per cent pay increase recommended by a fact finding panel. In a vote early in the year the membership rejected an offer of 23 per cent and authorized a strike. It was uncertain what effect the vote would have on a pay package already approved by the House and scheduled for a vote in the Senate today. That package would give the state workers a 23 per cent pay increase over the next two years, but would also require some of the needed money to come from state agency savings that would result from not filling all authorized positions. That pay package is opposed by both Straub and the union. OSEA officials said they hoped to have the ballots in the mail by Friday and have tne results tabulated by June 6. corporate and personal income taxes, may provide enough money for the state to meet a number of obligations including additional money for pay raises. Since the University is in Fadeley’s district, many of his constituents will be affected by the amount of money budgeted for pay increases. Some of those constituents will be "making their presence felt” according to ASUO vice-president Kirby Garrett. Garrett told the Emerald Wednesday that the ASUO has chartered a bus and will be taking 40 to 45 students to the Senate today. The ASUO has opposed to salary increase reduction rep resented by HB-5063 and, al though the expendition is officially billed as an "an educational ex perience,” it appears that the major purpose of the trip will be to lobby against the bill, which is scheduled to be voted on today. Garrett said another "critical” purpose for having a mass turnout of students today is to pack the House Labor Committee which will be considering the fate of HB-3043, a measure sponsored by the Associated Oregon Stu dent Lobby. HB-3043 would allow students to become par ticipants in collective bargaining between higher education ad ministrators and faculty members. Te bill also requires the estab lishment of student-faculty com mittees at institutions of higher education to make recommenda tions concerning faculty employ ment ralations prior to collective bargaining. Photo by Warren Morgan ‘ Nuts!!! ’cried the strange little student. “This class ain ’t my style -even if it is outside for a change. ” * ^ Hopes higher for drinking bill SALEM — There’s a good chance 19-year-olds will be able to legally drink alcoholic beverages in Oregon by the end of the year. The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning approved the 19-year-old drinking bill, HB-2397. If the bill Dasses the Senate and receives the governor’s signature, it will take effect 90 days after the Legislature ad journs. The Legislature will probably adjourn in mid-June so the bill cannot become law until after the summer. Gov. Bob Straub says he supports the bill, which has already passed the House. Although bills lowering the drinking age have been de feated in Dast sessions, two lobbyists for the Associated Oregon Student Lobby say HB-2397 will pass the Se nate. Mike Cowgill and Jim Howe, from OSU, have followed the bill since its introduction. V. J Bernau proposes alternative funding for CCDC, Emerald By MONTE ENBYSK and JIM WORLEIN Of the Emerald ASUO Pres. Jim Bemau feels the executive has devised a plan of alternative funding for the University Child Care and Development Center (CCDC). Bemau announced Wednesday that he will veto the Incidental Fee Committee s (IFC) budget allocation of $69,192 to the CCDC and set his two-pronged scheme to work. He had earlier called the IFC decision “unaccepta ble.'' “I think $69,192 for a program that can aid only 65 children at the most, which comes to $9,000 for each child, is way too much for University students to support." Bemau's two-part plan includes a door-to-door drive where students can donate part or all of their general deposit to the CCDC, and a diminishing form of partial support from incidental fees. Toqether. both means will provide all but $16,720 of the CCDC s IFC allocation. The remaning amount will be the program’s responsibility to come up with, Bemau said. The planned fund drive would have students fill out a card to donate all or a portion of their breakage deposit. This deposit of $25 is payed to the University once a year by each student. If all of the deposit is not. used the remainder is refunded to the student by the end of each summer. Bernau's proposed project also involved the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Company. Students can pledge money to either CCDC, the Emerald, or both. Bemau said if a student donates money to both, the pledge will be evenly divided between the two by the ASUO. Bemau said he expects to receive around $30,000 from the fund drive for the CCDC along with $10,000 for the Emerald. These figures, however, were called con servative by Bernau. The CCDC fund drive money, coupled with the $22,880 the program will get from incidental fees in the second part of his plan, will total a budget of $52,880 for 1975-76. The second part of Bernau’s plan is a method of partial funding by the IFC based on diminishing percen tages. The CCDC will receive the money in four install ments: $14,000 summer term, $4,440 fall, $2,960 winter and $1,480 spring. “Receiving money in diminishing installments such as this will encourage them (CCDC) to find other sources of funding during the year, along with helping us to have time in locating alternative funds which we must do,” he said. / Kathy Sacks, CCDC director, said Wednesday she was unclear on Bernau’s proposal and needed time to formulate her comments. “I consider this program a lot better than arbitrary taxation,” said Bernau, who also felt the need to criticize both the IFC and the CCDC for recent performances. “The IFC made an allocation of $69,192 without in vestigating any alternatives. And I think that CCDC sup porters have concentrated upon the ‘easy source’ of funds by trying to influence the IFC.” Bernau said he hopes that this is the last time the CCDC will go in front of the Incidental Fee Committee to request money. “In the future, I hope that the CCDC directors and supporters will concentrate on funding from areas that are not so regressive," he said, "such as taxing students who are unable to afford the increasing costs of tuition and room and board." "I support the program wholeheartedly," he added, "but I cannot see funding it on a year-in, year-out basis, like incidental fees.” Bernau sees the future possibility of the CCDC re ceiving funds from the state as good, since several people in the State Legislature have been working in this study, including state representatives Ralph Groener and Steve Kafoury. The fund drive idea was originally devised by Univer sity Vice-President of Administration and Finance, Ray Hawk as a way to aid the financially-troubled Emerald. The ASUO executive caught wind of the plan and decided it would be a good means nf getting increased income to cover the CCDC allotment. Emerald Board of directors member and Emerald Executive Committee member Peter Dietz explained the Emerald's predicament. “TheEmerald s costs have been substantially higher than what students have been paying through their sub scription rate,” he said. This, coupled with a rise in operating costs and a , downward trend in advertising revenue, has left the com pany short on working capital, continued Dietz. The Emerald's financial condition was further threatened by the senior citizen's weekly, the Phoenix formerly owned by the Emerald Publishing Company. “The Emerald Board of Directors saw a need tor a publication for older citizens in the area. While the Phoenix served these needs it was not profitable for the Emerald to continue its publication,” explained Dietz. Dietz added that the Phoenix is now being published by another company under a federal grant. He said he grant will help the Emerald "recover some of its invest ment.” Dietz said the Emerald is a non-profit company and described the fund drive as “a proper way to ask students to replenish diminished capital."