...Kitzhaber’s Grand Bargain
(From Page 1)
cent of that $500 million tax cut will
go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers,
who would get an average tax cut of
$6,011 a year.
It’s a strange kind of bargain that
takes away $2,370 a year in benefits
from retired public employees and
gives away $6,011 a year in tax cuts to
people making over $330,000 a year.
As lawmakers prepared to pass the
legislation, labor organizations came
out in opposition. Elana Guiney of the
Oregon AFL-CIO, Mary Botkin of
American Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees (AF-
SCME), and Rob Sisk of Service Em-
ployees International Union Local 503
testified against the PERS cuts. In a let-
ter to legislators, Oregon Education
Association (OEA) said the PERS
changes “don’t meet any standards of
fairness.”
The Oregon State Fire Fighters
Council was the only labor group to
support the PERS COLA cut. Legisla-
tive Director Bob Livingston said sup-
porting the PERS cuts was a difficult
decision, but it frees up revenue to pro-
vide public services, and puts further
changes to PERS “off the table” for the
first time in decades. Some Republi-
cans had pressed for much deeper
changes to PERS, but Kitzhaber
vowed “that’s it” once this one passed.
Kitzhaber’s package deal included
two other bills: One removes future
legislators from PERS and cuts PERS
benefits for felons; the other bars cities
and counties from regulating Geneti-
cally Modified Organisms (GMOs).
The PERS cut passed 22-7 in the
Mark Butler, Grant Lappi, Mike Van Atta, and Andrew Beyer were winners
of a charity golf tournament sponsored by Art Cortez Construction and
Carpenters Local 146. The tournament raised $1,500 for the Pregnancy
Alternatives Center in Lebanon, and also recognized general contractor
Lease Crutcher Lewis for its commitment to use minority-owned
subcontractors, of which Art Cortez Construction is one.
Oregon Senate and 31-24 in the House,
and the tax bill passed 36-19 in the
House and 18-10 in the Senate. [See
“How they voted” at right]
As the tax measure came up for
consideration in the House, Clackamas
County Democrat Brent Barton deliv-
ered a floor speech about the “so-called
grand bargain,” calling the revenue bill
“a major cash giveaway” to thousands
of well-off taxpayers.
“What is the message this Legisla-
ture is sending when we cut taxes on
thousands of lawyers, doctors, lobby-
ists, accountants on the same day that
we are reducing benefits to retirees?”
Barton asked. “There is nothing grand
about it. It is certainly not a bargain.”
It’s also not clear the bill cutting
PERS will stand up in court. In 2005,
the Oregon Supreme Court struck
down an attempt by the Legislature to
eliminate PERS cost-of-living in-
creases, in a case known as Strunk vs.
PERB. Public employee unions united
in the PERS Coalition (a group which
includes the Fire Fighters) had already
filed a legal challenge to legislation
passed earlier this year to cap the
PERS COLA at 1.5 percent. PERS
Coalition attorney Greg Hartman said
the new legislation will be added to
that court challenge, which goes di-
rectly to the Oregon Supreme Court. It
could take 18 to 24 months before the
court reaches a decision, however.
“You can talk about adding class-
room teachers and adding back days,”
OEA president Hanna Vaandering told
the Labor Press, “but when you’re do-
ing it at the expense of the working
class and in a way that could very well
be overturned by the Oregon Supreme
Court … it doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s incredibly disappointing that
so many people felt this had to be
done, because it didn’t, and there were
other solutions,” said Guiney, legisla-
tive director of the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Carpenters #146 partners with
contractor in charity golf tourney
LEBANON, Ore. — The Pacific
Northwest Regional Council of Car-
penters Local 146 partnered with Art
Cortez Construction and several sup-
pliers in a charity golf tournament ben-
efiting the Pregnancy Alternatives Cen-
ter in Lebanon, Oregon.
Twenty-eight linksters participated
in the Sept. 18 tournament at Mallard
Creek Golf Course in Lebanon. To-
gether they raised $1,500 for the preg-
nancy center.
At the tournament, Art Cortez Con-
struction and the union also recognized
general contractor Lease Crutcher
Lewis for its responsible contracting
practices, its commitment in utilizing
minority contractors, and for all the
charity work it performs.
Art Cortez Construction is a small
minority-owned drywall company
headquartered in Portland. The com-
PAGE 8
pany worked as a subcontractor for
Lease Crutcher Lewis at the recently
completed Harrison Street Apartments
student housing project in Corvallis.
Art Cortez Construction will work
with Lease Crutcher Lewis on two
more projects over the coming months,
including the Oregon Zoo.
Local 146 member Mike Van Atta,
who is operations manager for Art
Cortez Construction, said Lease
Crutcher Lewis has a commitment to
teamwork “that surpasses what is com-
mon in our industry.”
VanAtta said the general contractor
uses minority contractors on both pub-
lic works projects and private projects,
where there are no diversity require-
ments.
“We wanted to show our gratitude
and shine a light on what they are do-
ing,” VanAtta said.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
OCTOBER 18, 2013