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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2004)
• Friday • Better Than You Battles II Hip Hop 8:oo pm, $8 advance, Sio door • Saturday • North Mississippi Allstars, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Hie Rising Star Fife £ Drum Baud Blues/Jazz 8:oo pm, $17 advance, S17 door • Sunday • Scum of the Earth, Do? Fashion Disco, Northwest Royale, DFive9 Heavy Metal 8:00 pm, S12 advance, $14 door • Tuesday Walking Ashland, Sherwood, Hie Streetlight Cardiacs Pu nk Rock 5:00 pm, $j door • Wednesday • Fro? Eyes, Botox, Ahimsa Theory, Under Enuff Canadian Prog-Noise 8:00 pm, $5 door • Thursday, November 4 • Built to Spill Rock 8:00 pm, Sts advance $17 door All Ages Welcome 687-2746 01743 - poppiV— _/4n&4oli&. V. Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 J Tango Milonga Every Friday & ah Ages Saturday Night Live music Tango DJ's Performances necessary Introduction to Tango class at 8pm Tango social dance from 9pm-lam *Costumilongas this weekend The Tango Center 194 West Broadway downtown Eugene A non-profit community center dedicated to the music & dance of Argentine Tango www.tangocenter.org ★AMERICA VOTES 2004 ★ Public accident insurance under Measure 38 knife Some suggest SAIF needs to be reworked; others say going private could increase competition and benefit consumers BY KARA HANSEN NEWS REPORTER The way injured workers are in sured by businesses in Oregon could undergo a revolution if voters approve Measure 38, a hotly debated initiative to abolish SAIF Corp., the state-owned workers’ compensation company. The measure, proposed by a group funded by SAIF’s largest competitor, Liberty Northwest, has faced statewide debate. Liberty-backed Oregonians for Accountability claims on its Web site that SAIF is corrupt and should be abolished. Two of the state’s major business groups, Associated Oregon Industries and Oregon’s office of the National Federation of Independent Business, have assumed public stances against the measure. But several local labor groups aren’t sure a complete dismantling is the right type of reform. If voters approve Measure 38 on Nov. 2, the State Accident Insurance Fund would stop issuing new policies in January of 2005 and would be dis mantled by 2007, opening Oregon’s semi-public workers’ compensation system to competition. The state would have to keep pay ing out SAIF’s obligations and would set aside money for potential lawsuits from policyholders. According to financial estimates, eliminating SAIF would cost the state about $104 million annually in lost rev enue and would require recurring ex penditures of $1.8 million to $5.5 mil lion annually, as well as a one-time expenditure of $2.2 billion to $2.4 bil lion. The state would receive a one time revenue increase of $32.6 million from the sale of real property. For many people, the decision boils down to ambiguity about the mea sure’s outcome. “I have a lot of uncertainty with re gard to what the economic impact would be with abolishing SAIF,” Uni versity Economics Professor Larry Sin gell said. “There are a lot of potential arguments on both sides.” For Singell, the decision comes down to the likelihood for competition and the potential costs. “Generally, as an economist, competi tion is a good thing,” he said. “Competi tion tends to discipline firms that oper ate inefficiently. It forces firms to get their acts together, or they go out of busi ness because they’re not profitable.” Singed pointed to Michigan as an example of what Oregon could look like if voters approve Measure 38. The state sold its insurance fund, which fu eled competition between private firms, subsequently lowering insur ance rates and benefiting consumers, he said. Still, Oregon is a smaller state than Michigan, he noted, and might not attract as many firms to provide competition. The insurance market also typically isn’t public, he said. “There isn’t any obvious reason why a state should have an interest in providing insurance,” Singed said. “If you think about most insurance, you purchase it from private companies, and insurance markets usually work pretty wed, particularly when there’s a fair amount of competition, because it keeps the companies honest.” Singed is also uncertain of the transi tion’s cost to state residents. “The proponents say theie is no cost. They say that liquidation of the firm’s assets will pay for it, but oppo nents say they’re misleading you,” he said. “I would support it if I under stood that the cost is relatively low, but it could very wed be costly to switch in terms of tax and interest rates. ” Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nes bitt said although shifting to a private market could spur rate-lowering com petition, there are benefits to public and semi-public systems. “Looking at experience around the country, you have more public input to the structure and more administration benefits when you have a public or semi-public agency with less private domination,” he said. He said states with private markets experience “the worst of both worlds,” with higher costs and fewer benefits, but he’s mostly worried about SAlF’s long-term obligations. Young workers with permanent dis abilities who are covered by SAIF can collect benefits for 50 or 60 years, he said. Although audits of SAIF’s re serves appear to cover those costs, he worries the money will run out. “You need a good calculation of those costs,” he said. “I worry if you sell off SAIF to the lowest bidder, and that bidder turns out to be an under bidder, you’re going to be breaking promises down the road because you can no longer pay for them.” Cat Riggs-Henson, chief officer for the Lane County Labor Council, said SAIF may need to be reformed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it should be abolished. “If government is there, you have a system of checks and balances,” she said. “In a private system you can’t guar antee that the costs will be contained. ” Sarah Jacobson, a volunteer at the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Net work, a local coalition of the national workers’ rights organization Jobs with Justice, also advocated reform, but said she didn’t see a reason to disman tle the company. “It seems like there are ways to re form SAIF Corp.,” she said. “It serves an important public purpose.” karahansen @ daily emerald, com Central Presbyterian Church We Welcome You o 8:30 & 11:00 AM worship S www.cenfralpresbychurch.net ^ 555 E. 15th Ave. • 345-S724 GOOD FOR: THS SPIRIT Reach out to students with an ad here 346-4343 HHHHHHNhHmHNHHHHHHnHhNMm Baha’i Faith “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” - Baha'u’llah To learn about the Baha’i Faith and our activities in the Eugene/Springfield area call 344-3173 or 1-800-224. 0O-224JNITE. 01506126 www.bahai. org a=^ff. ..: 3 Central Lutheran Church (ELCA) e Welcomes You! Holy Communion: Sundays 8:15 & 10:45; 6:30pm s Student/Young Adults Bible Study § Sundays, 7:30 pm g 18th & Potter-345-0394 e —« * Campus Ministry Grace Lutheran Church 18th & Hilyard (just west of campus) Sundays at Grace Worship services: 8:30 am & 11:00 am Thursdays Student Dinners: 6 pm Bible Study: 7 pm | Contact Dave at 342-4844 or david@glchurch.org www.glchurch.org Wesley Foundation United Methodist Campus Ministry Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors Wednesday Night Fellowship 6:30-8:30 Free supper followed by singing, conversation & prayer. g 1236 Kincaid St. • 346-4694 • www.uowesley.org • jeremyhp@uoregon.edu Find a supportive community in the guide to Spriritual Programs every Friday ssMifl L \ St: Thomas Mors NEWMAN CENTER Feathers ttfffM? Duck into Newman. St. Thomas More Newman Center... Catholic Campus Ministry Social Connections Coffeehouses Student Dinners Sports Events Faith Community Engaging Masses Meaningful Retreats Guest Speakers Societal Commitment Mexico Mission Trip Charity Fundraisers Social Service Projects Wednesdays 9:00 pm Midweek Social & Student Mass Sunday Student Mass 7:50 pm Corn Maze Friday, Oct. 29 6:50 pm. $10, scholarships available. Meet at Newman center. rcia class Wednesday, November 5 7*9:00 pm November 12 Coffee House, 7:00 pm 1850 Emerald Street (south of Hayward Field) • 346-4468 visit our Web site at newmanctr-uoregon.org or send us an e-mall to newman@newmanctr-uoregon.org
