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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2006)
...Ballot Measures (From Page 1) ready face term limits — they’re called elections: Voters can and do decide not to return incumbents to office. This measure would take away voters right to send back popular lawmakers. Measure 46 would amend the Ore- gon Constitution to allow laws that limit or prohibit political campaign contribu- tions or expenditures. Opponents say this would permit limitations on free speech — the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that under Oregon Constitu- tion, campaign contributions are pro- tected free speech. Measure 47 would prohibit corpora- tions and labor unions from contributing to state and local candidates, political committees or political parties, or mak- ing independent expenditures support- ing or opposing candidates or political parties. It would also set up detailed lim- itations on individual political contribu- tions in state and local races. Opponents say that it will tie the hands of member- ship groups like unions, while provi- sions limiting the ability of rich individ- uals to fund their own campaigns would be overturned in court. Measure 48 — Of all the items for voters to decide in the general election, the one that has the greatest potential to choke off state spending — on schools, public safety and whatever else the state spends money on — is Measure 48. Measure 48, a constitutional amend- ment, sounds simple and reasonable: It limits increases in state spending to pop- ulation growth, plus inflation. But state needs don’t always rise ac- cording to such neat formulas. When in- vestigations determined that many Ore- gon bridges had serious need of repair, it was not a project that could wait. When a recession threw record numbers of Oregonians out of work beginning 2001, the Legislature was able to respond to the crisis by extending unemployment benefits. Thanks to voter-approved mandatory minimum sentences, the prison population is growing faster than the population overall. Thanks to the postwar baby boom and the miracle of modern medicine, the senior population is growing faster than the population overall. Prisoners and seniors are more expensive than the population at large in terms of state services. All these kinds of expenditures come out of the state budget and would be restrained by Mea- sure 48 limits. And Measure 48 could have a cou- ple of perverse effects that aren’t obvi- ous. One is the ratchet effect. During re- cessions, government revenue tends to fall. If Measure 48 were in place, and a decline in revenues led to spending cuts during a recession, future increases would then be based on that lower level of spending — basically, state govern- ment could never catch up to the level of services it provided prior to the reces- sion-caused budget cuts. This ratchet ef- fect would tighten the state’s belt every time tax revenue falls. Then there’s the fact that not all state spending is equal. Some, such as mak- ing good on past pension obligations or OCTOBER 20, 2006 paying interest on past bonds — is re- quired by law. Some spending is at- tached to specific revenue, like gas tax and road maintenance. But for the pur- poses of the Measure 48 spending limi- tation, these would be in the same boat as discretionary K-12 budgets, or money spent to generate federal matching funds. Putting the squeeze on state spending could mean walking away from federal matching funds. Perhaps most importantly, there’s a tricky little economic factor that the logic of Measure 48 ignores. Oregon’s state budget — and government budg- ets generally, have always grown faster than population and inflation. How can that be? While it’s true that governments have grown as society has become more complex (Oregonians had no need of traffic courts or electrician li- censing in 1890), it’s also true that over- all per-person productivity and prosper- ity grow faster than inflation. Government can stay the same size, as a share of economic output, and yet grow faster than population and inflation — because the economy is becoming more productive. And it turns out that Oregon already has a state government spending limit that takes such economic growth into account. A state law limits spending from the state’s general fund to 8 per- cent of total personal income. The law excludes bond proceeds, federal funds and trust obligations from the limits. Aggregate personal income is re- garded as the best overall measure of a state’s economy. Under Oregon’s exist- ing spending limit, state government can grow, but it can’t grow as a percentage of the overall economy. Measure 48, on the other hand, would freeze Oregon’s government at 2006 levels, making it unable to meet the needs of a 2016 citizenry or make use of the potential prosperity of a 2026 economy. In the 1990s, personal income grew 6.5 percent a year on average, while population plus inflation was 4.7 percent a year. Extrapolate that out over a decade or two, and you’d see govern- ment shrink in size relative to the private sector. This kind of nitty-gritty gets to why labor and business groups are op- posed to Measure 48. If it passes, bond rating agencies have announced that Oregon’s credit rat- ing would fall, meaning more tax dol- lars would go to pay higher interest rates. In short, Measure 48 would be an ex- periment. In fact, it’s an experiment be- ing waged in several states, by a New York real estate millionaire with ties to a network of right-wing anti-government groups. Howard Rich’s riches paid for petitioners to gather signatures to qualify Measure 48 for the ballot. If it passes, the Legislature will be unable to amend it, because it’s a change to the Oregon Constitution. Under Mea- sure 48, the state could exceed the limits on a one-time basis but only if two- thirds of both chambers of the Legisla- ture agree, and a majority of voters ap- prove the exception. CRISIS IN HEALTH CARE: What Are We Doing About It? A conference presented by the Oregon Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Oregon Convention Center 777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd Portland, Oregon 97232 REGISTRATION 8:00 am - 8:45 am Continental Breakfast Served WELCOME 8:45 am - 9:00 am MORNING PLENARY 9:00 am - 10:15 am Dr. John Santa, Assistant Director for Health Projects, OHSU Center for Evidence-based Policy Break 10:15 am - 10:30 am WORKSHOPS 10:30 am - 11:45 am and 1:15 pm – 2:45 pm • • • • A Better Mousetrap: Using Evidence in Benefit Design • Left Behind: Why the Uninsured Are Everyone's Problem • Paying the Piper: Health Care Purchasing Models (am only ) Promises Kept: Improving Quality & Safety in Health Care (am only) Access, Delivery, and Cost: The Triple Play of Prescription Drugs Between a Rock and a Hard Place-Bargaining Health Care Benefits LUNCH 11:45 am -1 pm Workshop Presenters Maribeth Healey, Oregonians for Health Security Dr. John Santa, OHSU Center for Evidence-based Policy Ardis Belknap, Human Resource Manager, City of Springfield Pat Boose, Labor Relations Director, Good Samaritan Health Systems Nancy Clarke, Executive Director, Oregon Health Care, Quality Corporation Mitch Greenlick, State Representative, Professor Emeritus, OHSU School of Medicine Barbara Prowe, Executive Director, Oregon Coalition of Health Care Purchasers Jean Thorne, Administrator, Public Employees' Benefit Board, State of Oregon Jim Dameron, Administrator, Oregon Patient Safety Commission Missy Dolan, Administrator - Oregon Prescription Drug Program Diana Moffat, Attorney/Labor Relations Consultant, LGPI Steve Pickle, Business Representative, IBT Local 305 LERA AWARD PRESENTATIONS 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm Dessert & Beverages Served REGISTRATION FEE: $140.00 (includes materials, meals, refreshments) SEND CHECKS TO: OREGON LERA P0 BOX 23123 TIGARD, OR 97218- For detailed brochure/questions contact David Stiteler: Phone: 503 949 5681 • Fax: 503 581 7215 • E-mail: oregonlera@aol.com PROTECTING UNION MEMBERS’ SMILES AND WALLETS. 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