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ALL-CUTS BUDGET
SOURCE: Governor's Office,
Oregon Legislature
Russell Weller Emerald
Joint efforts to re-balance
Oregon’s budget continue
■With a projected $830 million
budget deficit and a Feb. 8
deadline, new proposals offer
plans for the state’s future
By John Liebhardt
Oregon Daily Emerald
After crunching numbers for
three different budget-balancing
proposals this month, higher edu
cation officials and student leaders
are waiting for the smoke to clear be
fore taking any lobbying action.
Oregon legislators will meet Feb.
8 to find a solution to the state’s pro
jected $830 million budget deficit.
That will be the right time, student
leaders said, to remind their repre
sentatives of the importance of read
ing, writing and arithmetic at the
post-secondary level.
The Oregon Student Association,
a group that represents students at
nine statewide universities and
community colleges, will not be
lobbying in support of any particu
lar budget proposal.
“We talk a lot about the impor
tance of services that protect stu
dents,” said John Wykoff, legislative
director for OSA. He pointed out
that OSA, along with student gov
ernments such as ASUO, will busy
themselves stressing the impor
tance of specific issues such as the
Oregon Opportunity Grant and the
Childcare Block Grant.
“We will not talk about the rev
enue side of the matter,” he said.
“(Legislators) are going to have to
work that out themselves. ”
Finding compromise at the state
legislature may be tough work in
deed. With the release of three bal
ancing proposals in as many weeks,
legislators are busy trying to find a so
lution to Oregon’s dire fiscal straits.
“I don’t see any sign of an agree
ment,” said state Sen. Tony Corco
ran, D-Cottage Grove. He pointed
out that moderate members of the
democratic caucus want to strike a
deal with Republicans before the
special session begins. Currently,
Republicans control the House 32 to
28 and the Senate 16 to 14.
All three proposals hit the Oregon
University System with cuts. The
plan by the bi-partisan legislative
budget committee, the so-called
Gang of Five, calls for $526 million
in program cuts, including $48.5
million for OUS. Gov. John
Kitzhaber’s plan recommends $414
million in program cuts, including
$44.5 million for OUS.
To make Oregonians understand
the seriousness of the budget short
fall, Kitzhaber also released an “all
cuts” plan that proposed no rev
enue enhancing. The plan proposed
$830 million in cuts, including $84
million in cuts for OUS.
Speaking to a group of local lead
ers Friday, Kitzhaber remained cau
tiously optimistic that he could
strike a deal with the legislature on
half of his plan — the spending cuts.
“We are only about $100 million
apart,” he said. “I’m confident on the
budget side of things we can reach
some sort of accommodation. ”
However, Kitzhaber said finding
agreement on how to pay for the dif
ference will be difficult. The main
point of contention is Kitzhaber’s
plan to raise taxes on beer, wine and
cigarettes. He also wants to repeal
Ballot Measure 88 that allows Ore
gonians to deduct up to $5,000 in
federal tax bills on their state taxes.
The Gang of Five’s plan calls for no
tax hikes, nor does it call for a repeal
of Measure 88, which voters passed
51 to 49 percent in 2000.
Kitzhaber, who cannot run for re
election in November, received a
warm response from the crowd Fri
day for his plan. However, he may
have a harder time with legislators
who do not want to raise taxes dur
ing an election year.
Authors of the proposals admit
none of the plans is written in stone.
After looking over Kitzhaber’s pro
posal Wednesday, the Gang of Five
is revising its own plan. The gover
nor is also malleable to changes.
Members of the audience Friday
warned Kitzhaber about the adverse
effects the beer and wine tax may
have on the growing brewing indus
try in Portland.
“These proposals are on the table,
and if any of them get legs we need
to have a serious discussion of
them,” he said.
E-mail community editor John Liebhardt
atjohnliebhardt@dailyemerald.com.
News brief
Gubernatorial candidate
to speak at law center
Gubernatorial candidate Bev
Stein will be among the five
women speaking with students at
4:30 p.m. today at the “Working
for Social Change: Women in Poli
tics” seminar in Room 110 of the
Knight Law Center.
The seminar, which is free to the
public, will focus on the role of
women in Oregon politics. It is
E
sponsored by the University
School of Law Women’s Law Fo
rum and the Wayne Morse Center
for Law & Politics.
“Working for Social Change” is
the latest in a series of events that
are sponsored by the Women’s
Law Forum and aimed at keeping
law students passionate about le
gal issues, according to group
member Lisa Hartrich.
“We’re trying to start a tradition
of events that remind students why
they went to law school,” she said.
Stein, an attorney and former
Multnomah County executive, will
sit on the panel with state Sen. Su
san Castillo, D-Eugene, Oregon
Court of Appeals Judge Virginia
Linder, Multnomah County Com
missioner Serena Cruz and Mia
Shorey, campaign manager for state
Rep. Kathy Lowe.
Stein will also take advantage of
her time on campus to meet with
student groups and with Universi
ty President Dave Frohnmayer.
— Leon Tovey
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Lead researcher Dr. Sue Rankin will provide
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EMU Ben Lmder Room.
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Oregon Daily Emerald