6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017
Tasks: ‘All the cost drivers have to be on the table
Continued from Page 1A
Legislators have until mid-
night on July 10 to do their
main job, which is to balance
the state’s books; Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
warned this week that legisla-
tors might go into a special ses-
sion after that deadline.
Gov. Kate Brown
Brown, a Democrat, said
she’s focused on the next two-
year budget cycle but is willing
to discuss changes to stabilize
the state’s revenue system for
the long term.
“We are working on a num-
ber of levels,” Brown said. “I
am continuing to have informal
conversations with the business
community as well as labor
about how we close the defi-
cit gap for the short term. I am
also committed to having lon-
ger-term conversations about
how we close the structural
deficit.”
She said maintaining access
to health care for everyone
— despite the high costs of
expanding the Oregon Health
Plan — was “fundamental and
foundational to creating a thriv-
ing Oregon.”
To address the state’s hous-
ing crunch, Brown said rent
control — not currently permit-
ted in the state — needed to be
discussed at the Legislature.
Oregon Senate
leadership
Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Portland,
predicted the 2017 session will
be the most difficult in several
years.
“We have a huge budget
challenge, a huge challenge
with the transportation package
we are trying to get through,”
Burdick said. “This is my 10th
term, and I can’t remember a
more difficult session than the
one we’re going into.”
With the three-fifths major-
ity required to pass tax mea-
sures, Democrats will need
Republicans to push through
priorities for revenue reform
and passing a transportation
package.
Senate Minority Leader
Ted
Ferrioli,
R-John
Day, reminded Democrats
Thursday that his party is urg-
ing certain concessions for their
votes.
Specifically, Ferrioli wants
to curtail costs associated with
the Public Employees Retire-
ment System and to roll back
the state’s low-carbon fuels
standard.
“Republicans are willing to
help, and we have been reach-
ing out, and so far, we haven’t
heard anything positive from
the Democrats on partnering on
Oregon’s problems of PERS,
transportation, low-carbon fuels
standard and getting a handle on
spending so we can have real
conversations on revenue,” Fer-
rioli said.
“We do not think kicking the
can down the road for another
legislative session is prudent,”
Ferrioli said.
Republicans have been “sig-
naling furiously that if Dem-
ocrats are able to press down
those cost curves we will be
willing to look at new revenue
streams,” Ferrioli said. “We
have been reaching out, and so
far, we haven’t heard anything
from Democrats on PERS,
low-carbon fuels and getting a
handle on spending,” he added.
Ferrioli has suggested his
party will want a modification
of the fuels standard to support
a transportation package.
The program, extended by
legislation in 2015, requires
distributors to reduce car-
bon content in vehicle fuel by
10 percent over the following
decade. Republicans wanted a
lower standard because of the
requirement’s impact on the
cost of fuel.
Courtney, the Senate pres-
ident, said he is worried he
doesn’t have the votes to
increase revenue to make up
the state’s nearly $1.8 billion
shortfall.
“It’s a very bad situation,”
Courtney said. “We are very
much in that situation now, and
I’m terrified.”
Oregon House
leadership
Housing, the state budget,
education and transportation
were among the key issues that
Democratic leadership in the
Oregon House say face them in
the upcoming session.
“I think this session is prob-
ably one of the most challeng-
ing sessions that legislators
have encountered in quite a
few years,” said Speaker of the
House Tina Kotek, D-Portland,
“from the scope of the things
we’d like to accomplish as well
as the challenges that are fac-
ing us.”
The biggest issue is the bud-
get, Kotek said.
She argued that the state’s
current revenue stream would
make it “difficult” to maintain
services that Oregonians have
asked for, ranging from veter-
ans’ services to education.
Minority Leader Rep. Mike
McLane, R-Powell Butte,
struck a discordant note.
Leaders on both sides of
the aisle, though, say that this
year they want to pass a trans-
portation package to update the
state’s infrastructure.
Congestion in the Portland
area and deteriorating roads
east of the Cascades have leg-
islators talking about potential
increases to the gas tax.
In 2015, attempts to pass
a comprehensive transporta-
tion package stalled, which
McLane on Thursday blamed
on Democrats.
“I’m hopeful this year that
the process won’t be hijacked
by the left again and that we’ll
get a transportation package
done,” he said.
McLane also criticized the
state’s growth in both revenues
and costs, and said he is not will-
ing to consider tax changes until
Democrats agree to cut costs —
including the costs of the state’s
public pension system.
“Claiming
corporations
need to pay their fair share is
not a plan, it’s a political phi-
losophy, one that was rejected
by Oregonians,” McLane said,
referring to Measure 97, which
would have charged a 2.5 per-
cent tax on certain C-corpora-
tions with annual sales in Ore-
gon exceeding $25 million.
McLane has set two con-
ditions for agreeing to the
increased taxes that Democrats
say they need: business-friendly
policies that he claims will grow
the state’s economy and cutting
back on state government costs.
“When those commitments
are made, Republicans will sit
down and talk about revenue
reform,” McLane said.
Kotek reiterated her stance
that the state’s pension system
is not the only contributor to
growing state costs — commit-
ments to health care and recent
ballot measures play a role, too.
“The senate president and
I are looking to business and
labor leaders to come to the
table and talk about these
things,” Kotek said. “Here’s the
issue, though: all the cost driv-
ers have to be on the table.”
She also said that while leg-
islators would “dig into every
budget” and seek cost efficien-
cies, “at the end of the day we
still have a problem.”
House Majority Leader
Jennifer Williamson, D-Port-
land, said that House Demo-
crats stood with immigrants and
others who may feel threatened
by the policies of the Trump
administration.
Seagulls: ‘It’s been really, really fun’
Continued from Page 1A
‘Quick as cats’
Larry Elliott coached the
Gulls on the basketball court
from 1971 to 1996, taking the
team to the state championship
tournament nine times in 25
years. He lives in Seaside and
follows the Gulls every game.
“Here’s what I watched last
night,” Elliott said after Tues-
day night’s lopsided victory
over Valley Catholic. “They
play well together. They have
a feel for each other. They are
unselfish. They cover for each
other defensively. They’re
quick as cats and always look-
ing for opportunity. Jackson
Januik — I have never seen a
guard who can handle a ball as
quick as he does — anywhere.”
Mark Utti, the father of girls’
star Maddi Utti, attributed the
Gulls’ success to training pro-
grams that nurture young talent.
Kerri Januik is not only the
mother of two Gulls’ standouts
— senior co-captain Jackson
and sophomore Chase — but
serves as tournament director
for the nonprofit Pacific Bas-
ketball League.
From January to March,
teams from throughout the
Northwest come to the area,
bringing top young competi-
tors to Seaside. Local kids have
an opportunity to take them on
one-on-one.
“I’ve always encouraged
basketball in our community by
allowing that opportunity for
them,” Kerri Januik said. “They
don’t have to travel, they can
just play here and participate
against all these other teams
that come to town.”
It is this experience, along
with strong coaching in the
early stages, that helped local
players develop the skills nec-
essary to successfully compete.
“These kids play six week-
ends in a row at their age, then
they have their school ball on
top of that,” Mark Utti said.
“When they’re younger like
that, it really develops them. It
gives them that motivation to
keep playing, that love of the
game.”
Family affair
Both Kerri Januik and her
husband, Frank, played bas-
ketball in high school. “The
kids have a passion for it like
Frank and I did,” she said.
There are so many siblings and
family combinations in the Sea-
side program you need a fam-
ily tree.
The Thompson brothers
— varsity starters Hunter and
Duncan — received coach-
ing and inspiration from their
dad, Byren, who ranks among
the top five free-throw shooters
for the school and played a part
in the Gulls’ 1990s tournament
teams.
Mark Utti played basketball
for Astoria and helped take the
Fishermen to the state tourna-
ment in 1983.
Basketball is in the Wester-
holm family DNA. Old-timers
remember coach Bill Wester-
holm’s dad, Jerry, as a history
teacher and athletic director.
As a player, Elliott said, Bill
Westerholm “was probably one
of the top five competitors who
have ever played with me.”
A new generation, repre-
sented by former Lady Gulls’
star Whitney Westerholm and
this year’s Gulls starter Pay-
ton Westerholm, have taken the
mantle. In the wings, Jordan
Westerholm, 10, plays youth
basketball in Seaside.
“It seems coaches’ kids
bring along other kids with
them,” Elliott said. “They
watch dad. They watch the
teams since they’re little tiny
guys. It really makes a heckuva
difference.”
“Since you’re little, you
just know you have something
to work for,” Whitney Wester-
holm said.
Basketball, she said, was her
favorite sport because of “the
camaraderie and the heart you
had to put into it.” For many of
these kids and their families,
basketball is much more than
a game.
“It definitely gives them a
focus and a passion, and helps
them do well in school and
keep their grades up,” Kerri
Januik said. “This is import-
ant to them. It is a real prior-
ity in their lives and I think it
helps them stay focused and
organized in other parts of their
lives.”
‘Good hops’
The road will likely get
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Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Chase Januik goes up for a shot during a game
against Valley Catholic.
T han ks for your support!
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OREGON CAPITAL
tougher for Gulls — who play
at Tillamook tonight — as the
season progresses toward the
state tournament.
“The only thing they really
lack is size,” Elliott said. “But
what I always say as a coach,
you give me five 6-foot kids
who are quick and I’ll play with
anybody in the state. And that’s
exactly what’s going on right
here. Not only do they pass the
ball, they shoot the ball, and
they can jump. They have good
hops, good basketball savvy —
they just know what to do.”
“What they lack in size,
they overcome in skill, so I
hope skill can win out,” Kerri
Januik said. “I don’t want to
miss a thing. It’s been really,
really fun.”
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AFSCME Local 2746, Astoria
North Coast Chapter Members & Officers
Moose Lodge, Astoria
Senator Betsy Johnson, Scappoose
Astoria Sign Works, Astoria
Fernhill Glass Studio, Astoria
North Coast Motorcycle Works, Astoria
Keepsake Tattoo, Astoria
Home Bakery, Astoria
Jeffers Garden Inn, Astoria
Lower Columbia Bowling Lanes, Astoria
Daily Astorian, Astoria
Astoria Warehousing, Astoria
Mary Todd’s Workers Bar & Grill, Astoria
“Bruce the Moose”Westerlund, Knappa
Carl & Laura Earl, Astoria
Driftwood Inn Gang, Cannon Beach
Colvin’s Pub & Grill, Clatskanie
Troller Restaurant & Lounge, Garibaldi
Laird Adkins, Hammond
Buoy 9 Restaurant & Lounge, Hammond
Teevin Brothers, Knappa
Logger Restaurant, Knappa
Vinson Brothers Construction, Knappa
Knappa Market, Knappa
Columbia Motor Parts, Knappa
Loves Leathers, Battle Ground, WA
North Coast Truck, Astoria
Uncaged Cycles, Longview, WA
Big O Saloon, Olney
All In Pub & Eatery, Vernonia
The Waves Motel, Cannon Beach
Bob & Susan Hutson, Astoria
Shanghaied Tattoo Parlor, Astoria
Chuck Miller, Cannon Beach
Coastal Lock-N-Key, Astoria
Sears, Astoria
Allan M. Schumacher, Astoria
Kinney & Sons Trucking & Excavation,
Knappa
Woody’s Rabbits Inc., Knappa
JM Browning Logging & Trucking,
Knappa
Seaside Muffler, Seaside
American Legion, Seaside
Shear Pleasure Salon & Spa, Seaside
Frank & Leighland Heinrichs, Seaside
Billy & Brenda Varozza, Warrenton
Dan Peden, Warrenton
Pacific County Chapter of ABATE, WA
Relief Pitcher, Seaside
Driftwood Restaurant, Seaside
Mick & Kris Inniss, Knappa
Kelly Barendse, Knappa
Linda Long, Astoria
Al Jaques, Astoria
Big Creek Coffee House, Knappa
Sunset Presort, Astoria
Drug Screens Inc., Warrenton
Big Creek Coffee House, Knappa
Marsha, Ken, Mike & Zack Miller,
Ridgefield, WA