Appeal Tribune Wednesday, January 10, 2018 3A
Why Oregonians are voting on health tax
CONNOR RADNOVICH
SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL
USA TODAY NETWORK
Yes, we're having a special election
Jan. 23, and it's OK if you're confused.
It's a confusing situation. But we're here
to help.
Ballots are on their way to voters
statewide to approve, or reject, a series
of health care taxes placed on insurance
companies and some hospitals by the
2017 Legislature to help cover low-in-
come Oregonians.
The gap exists because the federal
government reduced the amount it
would pay for coverage of individuals el-
igible under Medicaid expansion. With-
out additional funds, or cuts elsewhere,
thousands of low-income people could
lose health coverage.
Here are answers to some of the com-
mon questions we've seen (and won-
dered about ourselves) regarding the up-
coming vote:
What is Measure 101?
It's a ballot measure resulting from
Referendum 301, which was circulated
in the fall. It puts to a vote taxes on health
insurance companies and some hospitals
that were created by the $670 million
health care tax package passed by the
Legislature last session.
Why are we voting on it?
Three Republican representatives
disagreed with their fellow lawmakers
in passing House Bill 2391 and began the
process of referring the measure to Ore-
gon voters. They succeeded in gathering
more than the required 58,789 signa-
tures within 90 days to get it on the ballot.
The three petitioners are: Rep. Julie
Parrish, R-West Linn, Rep. Sal Esquivel,
R-Medford, and Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-
Roseburg.
But why are we voting in January?
The Legislature used its authority to
set a special election date through an
amendment to Senate Bill 229, which
stipulated that if the referendum were to
make it to the ballot, the vote would oc-
cur on Jan. 23.
Lawmakers who support the taxes
say the vote needed to happen before No-
vember's general election because the
law's funding mechanisms would be on
hold until then, creating a budget hole
and putting some Oregonians' health
care at risk. They also said that the elec-
tion needed to be happen before the short
Legislative session, which starts Feb. 5,
so that if the taxes are voted down, law-
makers could have an opportunity dur-
ing those 35 days to find another way to
maintain health insurance coverage lev-
els.
Opponents say the date was picked to
sabotage the "no" side. The measure only
qualified for the ballot in mid-October
and the January election limits cam-
paign time significantly.
They also point to the historically low
voter turnout in January elections and
that voter pamphlets would be distrib-
uted around the distracting holiday sea-
son.
What's at stake?
It depends who you ask. The state esti-
mates that if Measure 101 fails, between
$210 million and $320 million in state rev-
enue would be lost, resulting in a loss of
federal matching funds of between $630
million to $960 million.
The loss of these funds would put at
risk the health insurance of 350,000 low-
income individuals in Oregon.
The "yes" side says those 350,000 peo-
ple are likely to lose their health care
coverage because there is no other way
to keep them all on their plans without
raising revenue, and this plan is the only
option.
The "no" side says no one will lose
health insurance coverage because the
state would never give up the federal
matching funds — and to get those you
need people enrolled in Medicaid — so
the Legislature is certain to find another
way to fully fund the Oregon Health
Plan.
What's the "no" argument?
The "no" side has a good handful they
are using, but one of the overarching ar-
guments is that the health care taxes are
inequitable, leaving out unions, special
interests and big corporations while tar-
geting schools and small businesses.
They also argue that health care costs
are going to rise for a majority of people
not on the Oregon Health Plan when they
pay at the hospital and with their premi-
ums.
What's the "yes" argument?
The main "yes" argument is pretty
simple — people need health care, and
this is the way the state figured out to
pay for it.
If voters want low-income Orego-
nians to have health care coverage, they
say this is the only way it happens.
Who is on who's side?
The "yes" side boasts a coalition of
more than 160 organizations, including
unions, women's rights organizations,
community hospitals, children's health
groups and state medical associations.
The "no" side, as described by Parrish,
is more "grassroots" with few state or-
ganizations pledging support. The Cas-
cade Policy Institute paid for a "no" argu-
ment in the voter pamphlet, as did a num-
ber of individuals including gubernato-
rial candidate Sam Carpenter, small
business owners and the chief petition-
ers for the measure.
Why do we need more money
for health insurance at all?
There is a gap in funding for Medicaid
starting this year. The Medicaid popula-
tion in Oregon was expanded under the
Affordable Care Act, and the federal
government agreed to pay 100 percent of
costs for that expansion population until
2017. Last year, the amount the federal
government would pay dropped to 95
percent, and it's up to the state to come
up with the money to maintain coverage
levels.
When are ballots due?
The ballot must be received at a coun-
ty elections office by Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. for
the vote to count. For voters who don't
mail in time for delivery, they can drop
off their ballots at an official drop box
from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 23.
Contact the reporter at cradnov-
ich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-
6864, or follow him on Twitter at
@CDRadnovich.
Silverton H.S. students
Silver Falls School
take part in Hour of Code
District religion
policy goes unchanged
CHRISTENA BROOKS
SPECIAL TO SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL
USA TODAY NETWORK
SPECIAL TO SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL
USA TODAY NETWORK
After multiple members of the pub-
lic testified against a proposed rewrite
of the school district’s policy on teach-
ing religion in the schools, board mem-
bers agreed, by consensus, to retain the
original policy.
The original policy is a detailed six-
point list of prohibited actions regard-
ing the teaching of religion in the Silver
Falls School District. Local school lead-
ers wrote it in 1989.
“It’s original, just like Silverton. No-
body else has it. I urge you to keep that,”
elementary school parent Michele Fin-
icle told board members last month.
The proposed policy was notably
shorter and more general.
It stated that teachers and staff may
not “promote or inhibit, openly or co-
vertly or by subtlety, a particular reli-
gious belief.”
Current district policy can be found
by going online and visiting http://poli-
cy.osba.org/sfalls/.
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated CenturyLink
as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service
area for universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local
service rates for residential voice lines are $15.80-$17.80 per
month and business services are $28.00-$32.00 per month.
Specific rates will be provided upon request.
CenturyLink participates in a government benefit program
(Lifeline) to make residential telephone or broadband service
more affordable to eligible low-income individuals and
families. Eligible customers are those that meet eligibility
standards as defined by the FCC and state commissions.
Residents who live on federally recognized Tribal Lands may
qualify for additional Tribal benefits if they participate in
certain additional federal eligibility programs. The Lifeline
discount is available for only one telephone or qualifying
broadband service per household, which can be either a
wireline or wireless service. Broadband speeds must be 15
Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload or faster to qualify.
Lifeline discounts include a transfer restriction (port freeze).
This means that you are unable to obtain the Lifeline discount
on service with another provider for a period of time. The
length of time depends on the services you purchase – 60
days for voice telephone service, 12 months for qualifying
broadband service. Certain exceptions to the transfer
restrictions may apply. See http://www.lifelinesupport.org/
ls/change-my-company.aspx for more information.
A household is defined for the purposes of the Lifeline program
as any individual or group of individuals who live together at
the same address and share income and expenses. Lifeline
service is not transferable, and only eligible consumers may
enroll in the program. Consumers who willfully make false
statements in order to obtain Lifeline telephone or broadband
service can be punished by fine or imprisonment and can be
barred from the program.
If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call 1-888-
833-9522 or visit centurylink.com/lifeline with questions or
to request an application for the Lifeline program.
Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) students at Silver-
ton High School participated in “Hour
of Code” during Computer Science Edu-
cation Week last month.
CodeHS, an online teaching plat-
form, helped students write software
that gave commands to computers, cre-
ate web pages and design digital art.
Advanced students created real mo-
bile apps and built shapes in a virtual re-
ality world.
“Computer programming is some-
times called coding, but we are pro-
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Woodburn, OR 97071
AD-1317-JAN ©2018
CHRISTENA BROOKS
gramming for more than just comput-
ers,” said Craig Rankin, computer sci-
ence instructor.
“We are writing programs that will
run on a variety of devices, like phones,
tablets, and just about anything that will
search the Internet.”
“Students at Silverton High School
have access to a growing number of
classes, ranging from computer pro-
graming and technology networking to
computer-aided drafting and digital
media production,” said Drew Hinds,
Technology Director and CTE Instruc-
tor.