TO THE EDITOR
BUDGET EXCUSE
I knew it would only be a matter of time.
The neo-conservative Republicans in the
state House of Representatives finally got
around to attacking the commissions that ad-
vocate for blacks, Hispanics, Native
Americans, women and the disabled. Of
course, they are using the budget crisis as an
excuse. Never mind that these commissions
had nothing to do with creating the budget
crisis and there is virtually nothing they can
do to relieve the crisis.
They are the most cost-efficient services
the state provides. All the commissions com-
bined cost little more than $100,000 per year.
About 90 percent of that goes right back to the
state to pay for rent, phones, computers and
the like. The commissions leverage more than
10 times as many resources in the form of
skilled volunteers that do the vast majority of
work of the commissions. The commissions
were de-funded in April and have operated ex-
clusively with volunteers ever since then.
I saw a letter to the editor in The
Oregonian the other day labeling these com-
missions as special interest advocates that are
unnecessary. If you think advocating for the
rule of law and equal protection under the law
are special interest issues, you must not sup-
port the Constitution. These commissions are
the only state institutions that have the sole
purpose of making sure that the populations
they represent are treated as equal citizens in
this state.
Of course, we could eliminate the need for
them if we eliminate racism, sexism, and
abuse of the disabled. The current batch of
neo-conservatives doesn’t seem to care about
these populations because they benefit from
the status quo, which includes the biases that
disadvantage these populations. The neo-
cons never liked these commissions anyway.
I urge the governor and those legislators
that believe in the rights embodied in the
Constitution to build a budget that includes
funding for these commissions.
Charles Dalton
Past Vice-Chair
Commission of Black Affairs, Eugene
FARMERS SUPPORT
As the Board of Directors for the Lane
County Farmers’ Market, we represent an as-
sociation of over 175 growers and producers.
We wish to state our support for FOOD for
Lane County and for its many innovative pro-
grams that have made it a caring and effective
hunger relief agency.
We understand the economic climate has
resulted in the agency cutting its payroll and
budget, while scrutinizing its internal fi-
nances. Of particular concern to us is the threat
to programs designed to strengthen our food
system and prevent the cycle of emergency
need, specifically their nutrition education
classes and much-loved community gardens.
As partners in the local food system, the
Farmers’ Market has contributed tens of
thousands of pounds of fresh produce to
FFLC each year to provide for the nutritional
needs of low-income people in our commu-
nity. We have found FFLC’s staff to be in-
credibly dedicated, creative people, unique in
their efforts to alleviate hunger, and we be-
lieve these programs are essential to their as-
sertive education, advocacy and building of
community in order to prevent hunger.
The Farmers’ Market is confident that
FFLC will overcome its challenges and
emerge stronger as a result. In the meantime,
we will continue to actively support their
mission by donating food, raising awareness
of hunger, and encouraging everyone to take
a more active role in improving our commu-
nity’s health.
Only through working together, espe-
cially when times are tough, will we be able
meet our challenges and live up to our obliga-
tions to each other.
Board of Directors
& Noa C. O’Hare, market director
Lane County Farmers’Market
MENOPAUSE SALE
I wanted to place a garage sale ad with the
R-G and I thought “menopause sale” would
catch people’s eyes.
I was phoned by the classified ad staff and
told that “they” had talked about it and de-
cided I should not use the word “menopause”
and instead use something “cutesy” like
“mid-life crisis” sale, since I had tools for
sale, etc.
BY TONY CORCORAN
$21,000 Dog Days
ORPs … I burped.
I
t’s Sunday morning, I just drove back from Salem. I’m attending to my own version
of a religious ceremony, listening to Celtic music on Leslie Hildreth’s Mist Covered
Mountain. The last two days have been grueling. We worked day and evening ses-
sions with committee meetings both nights as we struggled to the finish line. So why the
hell ain’t I in Salem today finishing up? Inquiring minds want to know.
Peter Courtney, the Senate president, was pushing hard for our sine die dénoue-
ment. The House had concurred on the Human Resource budget, without changing the
Senate version; and the House and Senate agreed on the last major pieces of the rev-
enue package. We still have to vote on a PERS successor plan and a few other substan-
tive bills that have been held hostage during the session, but we could do that in a few
hours. Higher education and K-12 were the only two major budgets left; the train had
left the station.
Then everything derailed last night in a fascinating Senate procedural fight. At
this time of session, bills move rapidly, and unanimous consent is required to suspend
the rules to hear these bills quickly. One of our throwback customs, dating back to
horse and buggy days, is that each bill gets three readings over three days. If we don’t
suspend the rules, we can’t hear bills as they immediately move out of our committees
or as they come over from the House.
T
he Republicans got their panties in a bunch and threw a hissy-fit because
Courtney refused to immediately sign the revenue package and get it right over
to the governor’s desk for his signature. The R’s insist on this happening before
they will be willing to suspend the rules for immediate action. Why? Because if we are
still in session then the governor has to sign the bill within five days. But, if he receives
the bill after the session, he has 30 days to take action. And, if he takes that long, it
shortens the amount of time that right-wing groups have to gather signatures to put the
revenue measure, especially the progressive income tax piece of it, on the ballot next
February. Those rascally Republicans, the revenue measure is not even out of the
4 AUGUST 28, 2003
Capitol yet, and they’re already counting the days to get sig-
natures to overturn it. Well, at least they didn’t refer it
straight to the ballot, as they did with Measure 27.
So that’s why I’m home instead of getting done in
Salem today. Hell, I might even still be up there when you
read this on Thursday! Those rascally Republicans, those cold-
blooded, austere, hard-hearted, mean-spirited, cheap, penurious,
parsimonious paragons of fiscal responsibility, efficiency, godliness and
small gub’ment, are wasting $21,000 a session day because of this little snit — but,
what the hell, it’s only Aug. 24. The next state revenue forecast comes out this week —
we’ve never been in session for a September revenue forecast before — not in the last
144 years — let’s hang around. We may have to start another series of budget cuts and
borrowing anyway. And they say we’re citizen-legislators, amateurs. Ha!
S
peaking of penurious parsimony, I just read Rep. Dennis Richardson’s sugges-
tions for the PERS successor plan. This is the evangelist/trial lawyer who beat a
moderate incumbent Republican, Cheryl Walker, in a primary last year in south-
ern Oregon because she had the audacity, the gall, she had the balls, I mean she had the
eggs, to vote against a bad anti-choice parental notification bill last session. This is also
the guy who wanted to stick all future teachers, police, firefighters, all local and state
government workers, into a cheapskate defined contribution plan.
It seems Dennis is a little persnickety about the name of the plan: “The name pro-
posed for the successor plan is totally partisan and must change.” He doesn’t want to
call it the Oregon Retirement Plan (ORP), because Republicans have already voted
down ORP three times. He likes the “Oregon Defined Employee Retirement Plan”
which he refers to as ORDER. As acronyms go, it sounds like ODERP to me. Don’t get
me wrong, I like the idea of “defined employees”; it sure beats the alternative. Dennis
reasons that the successor plan “could then be publicized as a bi-partisan plan for all
future state employees, designed to: Bring ORDER out of PERS.” And people say trial
lawyers aren’t creative. My counterproposal was the Bargaining Unit Retirement Plan,
or the Fair Alternative Retirement Transition?
Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 4, which
includes the UO area. He can be reached at sen.tonycorcoran@state.or.us