2B
|
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2021
|
APPEAL TRIBUNE
Positive tax year for state, residents
Boost to Oregon budget,
near-historic personal
kicker credit expected
Connor Radnovich
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Driven by a historically
bullish economic out-
look, Oregon is expected
to bring in an additional
$1.2 billion in tax revenue
this biennium, with the
next two biennia also
looking far stronger than
economists predicted at
the start of the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
Compared
to
the
years-long impacts from
other recent recessions to
employment and per-
sonal incomes, “there is
no long-run damage as-
sociated with the COVID
pandemic and the reces-
sion,” state economist
Josh Lehner told lawmak-
ers on Wednesday.
Further demonstrat-
ing the state’s booming
revenues, Oregonians are
estimated to receive a
$1.4
billion
personal
“kicker” credit on their
2021 taxes.
The median Oregonian
is projected to receive a
kicker rebate of $312 for
2021 taxes.
The bottom 20% in-
come bracket would re-
ceive approximately $25,
while the top 1% would
see nearly $13,000.
Actual revenues are
Kenneth Lloyd
Putnam
SCOTTS MILLS - Ken-
neth Lloyd Putnam,
83, of Scotts Mills, OR,
passed away on May 12,
2021 in his home. Lloyd,
as he was known, was
born to William Addi-
son Putnam and Lucilli
Alice Evarts on Janu-
ary 13, 1938 in Albany,
OR. After serving in the
U.S. Army, he married
Lu Ann Taylor April
17, 1964. Aside from
a short time in Ida-
ho, Oregon was their
home. He is survived
by his children Steve
(April), Jim (Heather),
Aaron (Amie) and Lau-
ra (Rob) and his many
grandchildren and great
grandchildren. Memo-
rial Service will be 6/19
at LDS Silverton Chapel
at 11 AM.
expected to exceed start-
of-biennium forecasts by
nearly 10%; the kicker is
triggered when the fore-
cast is surpassed by 2%.
“We’re well above
where we thought we
would be, even pre-pan-
demic,” state economist
Mark McMullen said.
Gov. Kate Brown said
the expected revenues
over the next three bien-
nia present lawmakers
with “a tremendous op-
portunity for transforma-
tional change.”
“And as we recover, we
must work to create a
more just and equitable
Oregon, supporting the
communities that have
been disproportionately
impacted,” Brown said in
a statement. “By rooting
our recovery efforts in ra-
cial equity, we can sup-
port economic growth for
all of Oregon’s communi-
ties.”
Lawmakers expressed
shock and delight at the
revenue forecast.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, called
the forecast “stunning.”
“Money is coming out
of our ears,” said Senate
Republican Leader Fred
Girod, R-Stayton.
“In all my years at the
Oregon Legislature, I
have never seen a fore-
cast like this,” said Senate
President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem. “If we join our
hands and arms, we can
really
do
something
about the pain and suffer-
ing of Oregonians right
now. If we don’t, we have
no one to blame but our-
selves.”
Lawmakers are also
determining out how to
spend $2.6 billion in
American Rescue Plan
Act funds.
Much of the growth
was attributed to federal
pandemic relief dollars
and fiscal policy.
However, economists
warned growth could be
slowed by labor short-
ages and the potential for
spiraling inflation.
Oregon’s employment
is expected to return to
pre-recession levels mid-
way through the next bi-
ennium, but pandemic
fears, lack of in-person
schooling and higher un-
employment
benefits
have tightened the labor
The Oregon Pioneer stands atop the Oregon State Capitol, in Salem, Ore. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021.
BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
State economist Mark McMullen. KOBBI R. BLAIR / STATESMAN JOURNAL
market, economists said.
About 45,000 people
are not looking for work
due to the pandemic, ac-
cording to the labor de-
partment.
“That’s a good year of
job growth for Oregon,”
McMullen said
As the revenue fore-
Due to the holiday,
our offi ce hours and
obituary placement
times may vary.
Please contact us at
503-399-6789 or
obituary@statesmanjournal.com
for further details.
OR-GCI0540969-01
Simple Cremation $795
Simple Direct Burial $995
Church Funeral $2965
SALEM
275 Lancaster Drive SE
Salem, OR 97317
(503) 581-6265
TUALATIN
8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd
Tualatin, OR 97062
(503) 885-7800
PORTLAND
832 NE Broadway
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 783-3393
TIGARD
12995 SW Pacifi c Hwy
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 783-6869
EASTSIDE
1433 SE 122nd Ave
Portland, OR 97233
(503) 783-6865
MILWAUKIE
16475 SE McLoughlin Blvd
Milwaukie, OR 97267
(503) 653-7076
“Easy Online Arrangements”
OR-GCI0571428-02
www.CrownCremationBurial.com
cast was being presented
to lawmakers and the
public, these legislative
leaders were already pro-
posing potential uses for
the additional revenue.
Kotek said the Legisla-
ture should use the mon-
ey to provide relief to Ore-
gon families who are
struggling to pay rent, in-
vest in recovering from
the pandemic, “advance
racial equity,” and ad-
dress needs in housing
and behavioral health.
“A year ago, the world
was in a free fall. Oregon’s
decisions and invest-
ments in the face of con-
verging crises have start-
ed an incredibly strong
recovery,” Kotek said.
Republican
leaders,
meanwhile, said the state
should direct money to-
ward: pandemic relief,
K-12 school budgets, ca-
reer and technical educa-
tion programs at commu-
nity colleges, and com-
munities impacted by
last year’s wildfires.
They also pushed back
against any plans to
change the state’s kicker
law or implement new
taxes.
“Republicans will be
pushing for these invest-
ments as we work to bal-
ance the budget with
healthy reserves while
limiting financial bur-
dens caused by unneces-
sary new taxes or raiding
the kicker,” said House
Republican Leader Chris-
tine Drazan, R-Canby.
Reporter Connor Rad-
novich covers the Oregon
Legislature and state
government. Contact him
at
cradnovich
@statesmanjournal.com
or 503-399-6864, or fol-
low him on Twitter at
@CDRadnovich.
Countdown begins to discover
where Columbus came from
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADRID – Was Chris-
topher Columbus really
from Genoa, in Italy? Or
was he Spanish? Or, as
some other theories have
it, was he Portuguese or
Croatian or even Polish?
A definitive answer to
the question of where the
famous explorer came
from could be just five
months away as interna-
tional
scientists
on
Wednesday launched an
effort to read the DNA
from his remains and
identify his geographic
origin.
Their findings are to be
made public in October.
Knowledge of the 15th-
century navigator’s early
life is scant.
A major breakthrough
in establishing a fuller
profile of the man who
died 515 years ago came
after DNA tests in 2003
established that bones in
a tomb in the cathedral of
Seville were those of Co-
lumbus.
But after that discov-
ery, the research team
from Spain’s University
of Granada that is leading
the Columbus research
decided to halt its investi-
gation. The reason: DNA
technology at the time
was neither accurate nor
reliable and required a
significant amount of ge-
netic material.
After leaps in the so-
phistication of DNA test-
ing in recent years, gene
geography may now as-
certain the rough area of a
European person’s an-
cestry.
José Antonio Lorente,
a professor of forensic
medicine at Granada Uni-
versity, said there had
been a “radical” improve-
ment in DNA analysis,
which now permits tests
on very small fragments.
He said researchers
are working with four
small bone fragments
from Columbus, seven
bone fragments and a
tooth from his son Her-
nando, and a dozen bone
fragments in poor condi-
tion from his brother Die-
go.
The fragments are be-
ing sent to genetic identi-
fication laboratories in
Rome and Florence in Ita-
ly, Mexico and the United
States, Lorente told an
online press conference.
Lorente said he be-
lieves the generally ac-
cepted theory that Co-
lumbus was from Genoa,
but the project aims to re-
solve some “mysteries …
and contradictions” in
the historical record and
obtain “as much informa-
tion as possible … so that
there is no argument.”
Granada University on
Wednesday was hosting
what it called the first
world meeting of Colum-
bus researchers, who are
presenting evidence for
their different theories
about the explorer’s ori-
gins.
Columbus’s
four
transatlantic voyages on
behalf of the Spanish
monarchs between 1492
and 1504 opened a door to
Europe’s colonization of
the
Americas,
then
known as the New World.
Columbus died on
May 20, 1506, and was
buried in the Spanish city
of Valladolid, though he
had asked to be buried in
the Americas.