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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2002)
Voters OK budget bills Measures 19 and 20 pass by a nearly two-to-one margin, raising cigarette taxes and creating a rainy day school fund Oregon votes 2002 Jan Montry Campus/Federal Politics Reporter Oregon voters approved two bal lot measures in a special election Sept. 17, both fixing a small per centage of the state budget short fall and giving immediate funding to K-12 schools for this year. The two ballot measures were referred to voters during the Legis lature's third special session in June to help fill what was then a $750 million budget hole. The money raised by the two measure will not affect the current $482 million budget shortfall. Measure 19 will convert the ed ucation endowment fund — which is funded by the lottery — into a rainy-day account for K-12 educa tion. The measure will then bor row $150 million from the fund for this school year. Measure 20 will increase the current state cigarette tax by 60 cents, ending in a total of $1.28 per pack. This new tax is expected to raise $70.7 million in the cur rent biennium and be mostly dedi cated to compensating for earlier Oregon Health Plan cuts. Barb Bellamy, spokeswoman for the 4J school district, said the suc cess of Measure 19 will open $4.7 million for schools. Election results Measure 19 Ves No Statewide 62% 38% Lane County 62% 38% Measure 20 Yes No Statewide 64% 36% Lane County 65% 35% SOURCE: Secretary of State “We already had to deal with an 88 million shortfall going into this year, so we’ve had to make reduc tions,” she said. “Measure 19 will at least mean that balancing the budget will be a lot less drastic.” Bellamy added that schools are now dependent on an income tax increase to receive the rest of their funding. “(Measure 19) is really good for us, as well as other schools in Ore gon,” she said. “But there is 83 million we still don’t know about.” The success of Measure 19 could adversely affect higher education students, however. The Oregon Opportunity Grant, which gets 25 percent of endow ment fund interest to help college students pay for school, will loose approximately 83.5 million in funding during the next biennium because of Measure 19. As a re sult, about 3,300 college students will not be able to receive a por tion of the grant. “I think that it’s really Turn to Results, page 15A Cigarette tax increase In a Sept. 17 special election, Oregon voters approved Ballot Measure 20, which increases the state’s cigarette tax by nearly 50 percent, from 68 cents to SI.28 perpack. According to a recent survey by the University Health Education program, 22 percent of University students say they use tobacco, English major Martha Grover said she would most likely quit smoking with the increased ciga rette tax, “Cigarettes aren’t a ne cessity,” she said, “they’re a luxu ry, but there are other luxuries which could be taxed!" Grover said she has a problem with the state lottery as well as cigarette taxes, which she sees as tantamount to encouraging people’s addictions. It’s unfair for the government to target one group, she said, especially when “a lot of smokers are poor, and they won’t quit.” Bruee Blonigen, an associate professor in the department of Economics, said the problem facing the state government is a need for stable tax bases. The cigarette tax, Blonigen said, al lows legislators to get a good sense of future revenue based on current demand. Legislators are “hanging their hat on the fact that cigarettes are fairly price insensitive,” he said. Architecture major Asmund Turn to page 15A Ballot holds 12 new measures In November, citizens will vote on issues concerning minimum wage, genetically altered food and health care Oregon votes 2002 Jan Montry Campus/Federal Politics Reporter As the November election creeps closer, Oregon could undergo sweep ing changes, including a 40-cent in crease to the minimum wage and re quired labeling of genetically engineered foods. This year, Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury released 12 new ballot measures, many fewer than the 26 measures released in 2000. Despite the low number, howev er, battles between supporters and opponents have already begun, most vocally in relation to two measures. Measure 27, which would require labeling of genetically engineered foods in Oregon, is especially con troversial in the food industry. In the measure, “genetically-engi neered” food is defined as “(food) produced or altered with tech niques that change the molecular or cell biology of an organism by means ... not possible under natu ral conditions or processes.” Katelyn Lord, a chief petitioner for Measure 27, said the measure is based on the right for consumers to know what they’re eating. “Our interest is from the con sumer’s point of view,” she said. “Giving people a choice and making Turn to Ballot, page 23A Ballot measures Measure 14: Removes historical racial references in obsolete sections of Oregon Constitution. Measure 15: Authorizes state to issue general obligations bonds for seismic rehabilitation of public education buildings. Measure 16: Authorizes state to issue general obligation bonds for seismic rehabilitation of emergency services building. 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