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‘Mallory Group’ offers budget solution
The special session of the Legislature has
been deadlocked over how to deal with the state's
$337 million budget deficit. It seemed that the
budget wrangling between Gov Vic Atiyeh and
the Legislature would not be resolved quickly. But
a small, bipartisan group of House members met
Saturday in Portland and hammered out some
viable — if perhaps unrefined — proposals to
balance the budget.
The group, known in Salem as the "Mallory
Group" (after the Portland Hotel where they’ve
met), have devised a revenue-raising package
that will resolve the deficit, plus create a $10
mkiion emergency reserve fund. This proposal
also asks for some extra budget cuts.
The main aspects of the MaHory Group's”
DeaMag the stats tax on beer and wine. This
would raise about $11.5 million. A similar tax was
previously proposed by Gov. Atiyeh. The beer and
wine tax increase would raise the state levy on a
six-pack of beer from 4 cents to 8 cents and from
13 cents to 26 cents on a bottle of wine.
Increasing the state cigarette tax
3-cents-a-pack, which would raise another $11 3
million for the state. This 3-cents-a-pack is in
addition to the recently levied 16-cents-a-pack,
making the total tax 19 cents a pack.
Reducing the maximum state payment in the
30 percent property tax relief program, bringing in
another $40 million. This lowers the maximum to
almost $225 instead of the current $355 maximum
An income tax surcharge of close to 3 9
percent. This surcharge would raise $40 million
The "Mallory Group" — made up of
moderates from both parties — have advanced
some sound proposals to deal with the budget
crisis The tax on beer and wine, cigarettes,
income tax surcharge and reduction in the
property tax relief program will bring sorely need
ed revenues to a state in dire need of revenue
sources. Critics may cite a cigarette tax as exces
sive — though in comparison to California and
Washington, where the cigarette tax is 10- and
20-cents respectively, the increase is comparable
There are defects in the "Mallory Group's”
proposal. More cuts in state agency budgets are
required to make the revenue-raising proposal
successful. This means further cuts in the higher
education budget raising the spectre of "financial
exigency." Sen. Edward Fade ley, D-Eugene, co
chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee
— which has already cut about $16.5 million from
state agency budgets — said the declaration of
“exigency” isn't needed with the cuts approved
by the Legislature at present. The "Mallory
Group's” revenue-raising proposal may force
higher education into the position of declaring
“financial exigency.”
Another defect in the "Mallory Group’s"
proposal is that it does not go far enough in
reducing the property tax relief program. That
program, if eliminated, would ease the burden of
more cuts on state agencies — such as higher
education. Realistically, the property tax relief
program is but a political bauble to dazzle voters in
the weeks before November
Optimism is running high, with predictions
that the special session could end as early as late
Tuesday if the ‘ Mallory Group" revenue-raising
proposals succeed. Perhaps less haste is in order
The “Mallory Group" has brought forth sound
proposals which only need redirection and refine
ment to deal effectively with the state's budget
deficit.
QNfift
'Ur
letters
Tomatoes
Rotten tomatoes for Matt
Meyer. What is this Moral
Majority stuff you threw in your
review of "Making Love”? There
was no moral issue at hand, only
a man who comes to grips with
himself
I know you can write good
articles, but this time I think you
took the "easy way out.” What
should have been an analytical
review, you turned into a jud
gement on personal freedom
Would it have been better for
Zack and Claire to stay together
and never be able to make each
other happy?
If you had done your re
search, you would have seen
how much of Barry Sandler’s
experiences were in "Making
Love." Sandler knows only too
well that sexuality is more than a
social issue What is wrong with
a relatively simple love story
with a twist?
Why not compare Sandler's
other accomplishments ("Kan
sas City Bomber' wrth Raqual
(sic) Welch, "Duchess and the
Dirt Water Fox" with Goldie
Hawn) and comment on his
writing abilities?
Spare me the moral preach
ing. Be critical not judgemental
Better yet, move your articles to
the editorial page
David M. Backatt
junior, psychology
Ambiguity
The ambiguity of Oregon's
higher education system should
be brought the light The idea is
the state funded education is
something like a loan Oregon
ians with higher levels of
education, it is presumed, will
mean higher income, higher
state revenues; thus being able
to reimburse the state for their
education Sounds somewhat
reasonable But talk to nine out
of ten students on campus, and
then try and figure out how
much Oregon will get back from
them Where must they go to
find employment? San Jose,
Houston, Los Angeles; need I
say more?
Education may or may not be
a duty of the state; but if a state
choses to invest in human capi
tal, it must also allow for that
human capital to operate within
that state in order to get a return
on the investment Oregon's
"brain drain” is certainly no
secret
The major stumbling block is
of course repressive land use
planning, most notably LCDC.
When more than a few jobs are
lost as a result of this kind of
planning, it is clear someone
has confused priorities, by put
ting a cleaner environment
ahead of food on the table
As long as Oregon's restric
tive iand use planning remains
in effect, the state system will
remain a subsidy by Oregon to
the rest of the country for
education If Oregonians do
prefer restricted growth, they
shouldn't be investing in so
much human capital If Oregon
ians do wish to invest in human
capital, they should allow it to
remain here and pay back the
investment through a growing
economy
Pal* Locka
Students for Individual Llbarty
Pornography
I have startling information tor
Frank Marone (Emerald, Feb 8)
and any others who think that
pornography increased the in
cidence of sex-related crimes
You're wrong Exactly the op
posite is true Pornography
often serves as an outlet for
people who might otherwise
find satisfaction in less accept
ed ways, such as rape Studies
of sex offenders have consis
tently shown that they have had
less contact with pornography
than non-offenders In 1970, the
President s Commission on Ob
scenity and Violence concluded
after studying a large amount of
evidence that “there is no
evidence that exposure to por
nography operates as a cause
of misconduct in either youths
or adults ''
Closing the adults bookstores
in the Eugene-Springfield area
won't decrease the incidence of
sex crimes Let the bookstores
stay open, Mr Marone. and you
will reduce the chance that "our
mothers and sisters and
daughters'' will have to pay
Show you care
Tim Kuhn
sophomore, business
staff
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