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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Vote ‘yes’ on Measure 101
V
oters can be forgiven if they
think Measure 101 is complex.
They’re right. The arguments
for and against have been mind-numb-
ingly confusing.
In short, they are being asked to
weigh in on a temporary 0.7 percent
tax on hospitals for two years that was
approved by the state Legislature in the
last session, as well as taxes on insurers,
the Public Employees Benefits Board
and coordinated care organizations. A
“yes” vote keeps the taxes; a “no” vote
repeals them.
Proponents arguing “yes” say the
money is needed to avoid up to 350,000
low-income residents potentially losing
health care.
The state would lose from $210 mil-
lion up to $330 million in revenue,
according to projections, plus $630 mil-
lion to $960 million or more in federal
Medicaid matching funds.
Reality check
There’s a real risk that low-in-
come patients could be dropped from
Medicaid coverage if Oregon vot-
ers scrap the taxes. The assumption of
opponents is that the Legislature would
scramble to plug the hole in the upcom-
ing session that begins in February. But
that is by no means assured.
In 2003, to help close a budget gap,
Oregon — along with other states
— eliminated its “medically needy”
Medicaid program. Tens of thousands of
people lost medical and prescription drug
benefits. The state saw a sharp increase
in visits to hospital emergency rooms
by uninsured patients, according to the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
We do not want to revisit that bit of
history. We live in a country where, in
most cases, sick people aren’t turned
‘More than 160 organizations in
Oregon have endorsed the plan, including
the medical and education communities.’
away from hospitals for inability to pay.
We can’t imagine living in a society that
denies medical care. Those emergency
room visits are the most expensive ser-
vices hospitals offer, and the costs are
passed along to the rest of us.
In 2013, the expansion of Medicaid
under the Affordable Care Act resulted
in 385,000 more Oregonians gaining
health care coverage.
‘A huge benefit’
About a quarter of Clatsop County’s
residents rely on Medicaid for their health
care, according to the Oregon Health
Authority. Local advocates say that
includes 4,900 children 18 and under.
Many new patients in the county who
had never received regular medical care
are now able to pick up a phone and
make an appointment with a doctor. The
ability to see a doctor on a regular basis
has made a big difference in
people’s lives.
Those new patients include kids with
serious conditions, like asthma. Many
are homeless.
“Every child deserves health care,
just as every child deserves educa-
tion,” Debbie Morrow, a member of the
Warrenton-Hammond School Board,
told The Daily Astorian’s editorial
board.
Columbia Memorial Hospital CEO
Erik Thorsen said the 2013 Medicaid
expansion reduced the hospital’s need
for charity care writeoffs dramatically,
by 50 percent.
That savings has been used to expand
medical services for everyone in the
county.
“It’s great for the patients, and it’s a
huge benefit to us,” Thorsen said.
Our misgivings
Those urging us to vote “no” on
Measure 101 have a point, in that the tax
isn’t fair. Not everyone in the state pays.
People covered by self-insured medical
plans through their employer (The Daily
Astorian is self-insured) and unions
are exempt, among others. Small busi-
nesses, school districts, nonprofits and
college students aren’t. Shouldn’t every-
one bear the burden of supporting the
neediest in our society?
Fiscal conservatives are also justified
in feeling that the Legislature is hold-
ing the state’s most vulnerable residents
hostage in its thirst for ever-increas-
ing taxes. Who is going to argue against
medical coverage for sick kids? Why
weren’t deeper cuts made in other pro-
grams to offset this expense?
That’s the pattern of the Legislature.
As long as powerful interests — such
as the public sector employee unions —
carve out their pieces of the pie, solu-
tions to complex problems such as
health care will continue to be unevenly
applied. That doesn’t make it right, but
it’s the state we live in.
Our endorsement
Forty-eight other states and the
District of Columbia levy tax assess-
ments against health care providers to
fund care for low-income patients. The
strategy is popular because it generates
matching federal dollars. In this case,
Oregon health care providers agreed
to tax themselves, and insurers may
not raise rates more than 1.5 percent to
cover the assessment.
An impressive list of more than 160
organizations in Oregon have endorsed
the plan, including the medical and edu-
cation communities.
Given that groundswell of support,
both statewide and locally, we urge you
to vote “yes” on Measure 101.
GUEST COLUMN
Thanks for all the fish
I
n 1994 I was appointed by Oregon’s first
woman governor, Barbara Roberts, to
complete the term of a disgraced, dis-
barred and convicted Clatsop County district
attorney. I’ve had the honor since then to be
elected six consecutive times. After 25 years
as chief prosecutor, I’ve decided not to stand
for what would be my seventh full term. Jan.
7, 2019, will be my last day as your district
attorney.
This decision wasn’t easy to make. I love
the job. I work with a truly outstanding staff
of lawyers, paralegals and victims’ advocates,
all recognized throughout
the state for their skills and
experience. Office manager
Lori Johnson has worked
in the district attorney’s
office even longer than I
have. Fortunately, Lori is
much younger than I am, as
Josh
she is irreplaceable for the
Marquis
proper functioning of the
office. Two of my former chief deputies now
serve as judges on the Circuit Court bench —
Cindee Matyas and Dawn McIntosh. In 2017,
deputy David Goldthorpe left the office after
being appointed district attorney of Malheur
County.
Given over a dozen county managers
and likely twice that number of county
commissioners, at times my relationship with
management has been … interesting. I’ve not
always received the budgets I’ve requested,
but I’ve always received the funding I needed
to ensure I could attract good people to an
office that is adequately staffed and appro-
priately compensated, in a renovated historic
courthouse, in a stellar natural setting. I thank
you all.
I’ve met hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of victims and witnesses and their families.
Many have humbled me with their grace
and eloquence, often in the face of horrific
crimes. Even the so-called “nonviolent”
crimes, like those involving fraud and drugs,
can have enormous impacts that do great and
lasting harm. It seems criminal to me that the
term “criminal justice reform” has twisted
so that it now means reducing jail and prison
sentences, rather than truth in sentencing and
the rights of victims. I have been and will
remain a strong advocate for those and other
true reforms.
I’ll continue also to advocate for laws
against animal cruelty, for enforcement of
driving while impaired laws, for reasonable
and responsible funding for prosecutors and
law enforcement. I’ll continue to expose the
rampant and epidemic lies told by various
media outlets, criminal defense organizations
and billionaire philanthropist George Soros
about prosecutorial misconduct. For most of
us who prosecute for a career — not as a step
to six- and seven-figure incomes defending
white-collar defendants — the worst possible
trial outcome is not an acquittal. Any of us
worth our salt have lost cases where the
defendant was clearly guilty. No, the worst
nightmare of any prosecutor is convicting
someone who is innocent of that offense.
Those of us who are seen as cutting corners
to win usually find ourselves unemployed, as
we should.
The office of district attorney offers a
morally luxurious job. I answer to my
conscience and the voters. My sole
allegiance is not to a paying client, but to
the truth. What I hope to be remembered for
most is my zealous advocacy for victims and
for an office that serves the county without,
as early American oaths often required,
“fear or favor or hope of reward.” My office
has never prosecuted anyone because of a
personal beef, or not prosecuted because of
a personal relationship. Police officers, gov-
ernment officials, locally prominent citizens,
neighbors, have all been through the system.
We are, as John Adams said, a nation of laws,
not of men.
So, what next? I expect I’ll be far less
cautious and guarded in my public comments
on criminal justice than I have been while in
office. I enjoy speaking to groups at univer-
sities and associations around the country.
I particularly enjoy research and writing.
I’m active on the board of directors of the
National District Attorneys Association, and
will continue crafting policy there. I hope to
continue for another 24 summers my occa-
sional three-line role as the cowardly sheriff
in “Shanghaied in Astoria,” and go into a
third decade with a jazz show as the DA DJ
on KMUN.
Until then, until Jan. 8, 2019, I’ll do the
job the voters have asked me to do.
For the first several years as DA, I tried all
the murder cases alone. I came to realize that
including a deputy not only helped me and
gave them experience, but I enjoyed mentor-
ing. As my office grew from seven employees
in 1994 to 20 today, more and more of the job
has become administrative. Those 20 women
and men do 95 percent of the daily work in
the office, and will continue to do so well
after I’m gone.
Ron Brown has been chief deputy since
2004. He’s developed a particularly strong
skill for prosecuting sexual assault cases,
sadly much more common than you might
think. He has deep compassion for victims.
He has the respect and admiration of the
office because of his toughness at trial and
his deep commitment to victims. Ron will be
filing for the post as my successor, and will
be on the ballot in May. I urge you to support
him.
Many people showed me great kindness
when I moved here as a largely unknown
quantity. The late Hal Snow and his wife
and partner, Jeanyse. Then vice chair of the
County Commission, Don Haskell, and his
wife, Carol. Steve Forrester, then the editor
and publisher of The Daily Astorian. The late
Randy Bowe, and Debra Bowe, who found
me a literal home and threw my first welcom-
ing party. Judy Niland and friends at the Astor
Street Opry Company. Former KMUN station
manager Doug Sweet.
I owe a special thanks to my greatest
political ally, a force majeure, state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, Oregon’s best friend of public
safety.
Cindy Price and I have made Astoria our
home for 23 years. I’ve no intention of retir-
ing elsewhere. Cindy wouldn’t leave Astoria
even if I did have such ideas, so that’s that.
I’ll still be meeting you at the post office, at
the grocery store, at the butcher shop, at the
restaurants.
Despite the Douglas Adams reference in
the title, I’m not leaving the planet, just the
job I have loved. It is the greatest privilege in
my life to stand in the well of the courtroom
and represent the people of Oregon.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
for allowing me the pleasures of this fascinat-
ing job.
Joshua Marquis is the Clatsop County dis-
trict attorney.