Monday, Fabruary 8, 1982
Eugana, Oregon
Oregon daily
Voluma 83
Number 97
emerald
1 I t ■
Chancellor criticized
Legislators denounce‘hit list’
By Ann Portal
OIttf Eimrmtd
The chancellor's list of "ex
pendable" programs released
last week didn't take long to
reach the special session in
Salem, causing some legislators
to speculate on the timing
Local legislators contacted
over the week-end denounced
the list and its contents, calling
it "overkill" and a "death wish
list.”
"It sounds more like a shock
technique than reality," said
Sen Ed Fadeley, D-Eugene
Springfield
"Most legislators know that
it’s a lot more than the econ
omic times justify," he said
The Legislature asked the
State Board of Higher Educa
tion to prepare a list itemizing
what would have to be cut to roll
back the $49 tuition surcharge
imposed this term The board
estimates the lost tuition reven
ue will cost the state system $6
million
Rep Grattan Kerans, R
Eugene, called the list "rather
amazing "
"I would say it's the ultimate
in showdown politics," Kerans
said
Sen Ted Kulongoski, D
Junction City, called it "more
politics than good government
of the state system of higher
education
"I find it very strange that the
r
chancellor’s office would do
this without consulting Paul
Olum, the dean of the law
school, or any other deans,"
Kulongoski said
The list is "a pretty good ex
ample of overkill," Fadeley said
He called the possibility of clos
ing the University law school
'preposterous."
The law school is one of 10
University areas listed for
"reduction or elimination ”
Other programs on the list in
clude virtually all of the
community services and public
affairs school, the marine
biology institute, a reduction in
business administration enroll
ment and graduate degrees in
counseling psychology
Fadeley said the directions
Chancellor Roy Lieuallen gave
the State Board of Higher
Education two weeks ago were
based on erroneous assump
tions" over the depth of cuts
jthe majority of the cuts the
list deals with are based on the
impact of rolling back the tuition
surcharge, but those are not
actual cuts, Fadeley said
The Legislature has not yet
told the board to drop the sur
charge, and the institutions
might not lose much tuition
revenue even if the surcharge is
dropped, because it might ena
ble more students to come to
school, he said
"Their own statistics question
whether they make any money
"I would say
it’s the ultimate
in showdown
politics. "
“It sounds
more like a
shock tech
nique..."
off the tuition increase,"
Fadeley said "I think they’re in
error about that
Fadeley also criticized the list
as obscuring the good news
and turning it into a debate over
the bad news. ’'
The amount the Legislature
proposes to cut from higher
education s budget is 35 per
cent of the cut proposed by
Gov Vic Atyieh, he said
'They're not winning legislative
friends trying to blame all their
ills on the Legislature," he said
Grattan Kearns
Ed Fadeley
Kerans said the list is “cer
tainly calculated to cause the
greatest amount of ulcers and
strain possible ” As a result,
institution presidents may now
have more credibility with the
Legislature than the chancellor,
he said
Kerans said most Ways and
Means members he talked to
“were certainly negative" about
the list. He said he hasn't yet
found a legislator who agrees
with the items on the list or the
way it was announced
Atiyeh’s budget cuts draw fire
By Ron Hunt
Of the Emerald
A letter from the Chamber of
Commerce read, no new
taxes
The next day Rep Margie
Hendriksen, D-Eugene.
opened another letter from the
Chamber of Commerce urging
her to "save the University "
Hendriksen told this story to
about 40 constituents Sunday
at Eugene's Harris Hall as an
example of the "very difficult
situation” legislators face
Hendriksen voiced frustration
over the "philosophical split"
at the special session, she al
so criticized Gov Vic Atiyeh's
approach to budget problems
and explained her tax reform
proposal
‘It's a real dilemma up
there," she said The Repub
licans are holding firm — "like
a fist " But many legislators
"just want to get out of there"
and because of that it's "very
difficult to hold people to re
sponsible decision-making "
The Democratic leadership
was unwise in agreeing to 5
percent cuts in state agency
budgets, Hendriksen said It
was a "'fundamentally wrong
premise" to accept any more
Photo by Mark Pynes
Rep. Margie Hendricksen, D-Eugene, points out what she sees
as the Haws in Gov. Vic Atiyeh's approach.
cuts in a budget where "there
is no fat.”
Democrats would be in a
better position now if they
would of begun with a no cut
proposal, rather than attempt
to hold their position at 5 per
cent now, said Hendriksen
Conservative Democrats
have been unwilling to sup
port plans of the majority of
the Democratic caucus, Hen
driksen said, so any break in
the deadlock will probably
come from moderate Repub
licans
The governor's approach to
the state's budgetary crisis is
"totally irresponsible" and
would, for example, lead to
financial exigency at state u
niversities and colleges, she
said
She lashed out at Atiyeh's
"so-called" Economic
Recovery Plan. The gover
nor's plan calls for state
agencies to hire workers who
would help businesses deal
with state regulations Nor
mally this is done by lawyers,
accountants and architects in
the private sector, Hendriksen
said
"Business is being sub
sidized at the same time that
money is taken away from
those who need it the most."
Hendricksen is sponsoring
a tax reform proposal slated
for hearings before the Joint
Revenue Committee
"Taxes are a critical part of
whether the state will survive
under the onslaught of
Reaganomics," she said Her
plan — "slurping up the trickle
down" — is designed to
recapture some of the $11
billion that will be freed up in
Oregon after July 1982, when
federal tax cuts take effect.
Single tax returns for people
with incomes below $11,000
(67 percent of Oregon tax
payers) would incur a lower
tax rate in Hendriksen's plan,
while those with incomes
above that level would pay at a
higher rate The borderline for
joint tax returns would be
$24,000 Tax rates vould
range from 3 to 15 percent
Considering the federal tax
cuts, she said, her tax tables
would still leave everyone
ahead — and bring about $140
million in additional revenue to
the state
Allies say
pres, plan
in trouble
WASHINGTON (AP) - Pres
ident Reagan’s congressional
allies are doubtful that his 1983
spending plan — with its mas
sive deficits and additional cuts
in domestic programs — will
survive an election-year session
of Congress
Democratic opponents,
meanwhile, simply are dismiss
ing the $757.6 billion budget
and its projected deficit of $91 5
billion as unworkable
But top administration
officials argued Sunday that
there is little room for change in
the president's proposals with
out damaging the economy
Presidential counselor Edwin
Meese III also tried to play down
Republican discomfort over the
budget, which formally will be
submitted to Congress on Mon
day. He indicated Reagan will
appeal to the nation to generate
Congressional support.
“The president still has strong
support in the country,” Meese
said. “People still like his pro
grams ... I would never under
estimate the ability of this pres
ident to mobilize the American
people behind his policies.”
For the moment, however,
there is little outright support of
the budget on Capitol Hill.
‘‘I don't believe anybody
realistically believes that we re
going to accomplish everything
the president suggests,” said
Sen Bob Dole, R-Kan , chairer
of the Senate Finance Commit
tee.
Republicans used their
majority strength to enact
Reagan's proposals intact in the
Senate last year, then attracted
enough conservatives from the
Democratic majority in the
House to prevail mere as wen.
Several congressional
sources now are predicting that
Republicans would spend the
next several weeks debating
whether to simply abandon
Reagan s recommendations
and develop an alternative of
their own
Sen Ted Stevens, D-Alaska,
expressed the feelings of a
number of his colleagues “I
was just sort of in a state of
shock as I listened” to a briefing
on the president’s budget on
Friday, he said.
Although he said his tax-writ
ing committee would not “pre
sent a package in opposition to
the president's package," Dole
noted that "we may have some
ideas of our own when it comes
to revenue increases and may
have ideas of our own when it
comes to spending reductions."
Sen Donald W. Riegle Jr ,
D-Mich., said, "The (pres
ident's) economic plan isn't
working, we do need a mid
course correction and the
deficits need to come down
We've got to get people back to
work If these unemployment
numbers keep rising, nothing
positive is going to happen ”
See related AP stories on
page 5,