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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1982)
Portland Observer, January 7,1962 Page 5 Dick Bogle A recent Associated Press story out o f Salem indicates some tighten ing up in Oregon’s early release pro gram is needed. That’s the program that allows Oregon State prison in mates to get out early In search for jobs and living quarters. This program replaces the work release program and is in effect in part because o f an earlier court de cision branding the prison o ve r crowded. M o re than 600 inmates were out at one time on temporary leaves. That was when the state was struggling last w inter to meet the federal ju d g e ’ s deadline for re ducing the overcrowded conditions. The pressure is o ff somewhat now, since the U .S . Supreme C o u rt stayed that order. The problem is that about 24 per cent of the inmates granted early re leases escape, commit new offenses or fail because o f other violations. M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty district a t torney Michael Schrunk says, “ It's not w orking, a 24 per cent failure rate is about one fourth, is that what we want? We are putting individuals back on the street and they are back committing crimes.** He says it's undermining the cred ibility o f the system. Corrections divisions statistics re port that between September, 1980 and Septem ber, 1981, tem porary leaves were granted to 2,362 in mates. O f those, 59 were sent back to prison for technical violations and 519 escaped or were charged with new crimes. Oregon is not alone in the dilem ma o f prison overcrowding. Some most interesting statistics have come to light. One out o f every 659 Amer icans is behind bars serving sen tences o f varying length. The U .S. prison population is growing nearly 15 times faster than that o f the na tion as a whole. It’s not only because o f increasing crime but also stiffer sentences. But some states, 36 to be exact, have com pleted new facilities to house 22,823 inm ates. Oregon is not among those. Quarters for another 26,538 are Representative Wally Priestley under construction in 39 states, at a cost o f $865.9 million and Oregon is not among those either. N a tio n a lly , the num ber o f in mates in federal and state correc- tiuonal institutions increased from 328,695 to 349,118 during the first six months o f 1981, according to the Bureau o f Justice Statistics o f the U .S . D epartm ent o f Justice. This 6.2 per cent increase compares with a nationwide growth in population o f 0 .43 per cent over the same period. It looks as though Oregonians are simply going to have to face up the fact that it costs money to have an effective criminal justice system and that a good portion o f those funds are going to come from you and me. There was some hope that the proposed C rim in a l Justice C o n struction Reform Act now pending in Congress w ould pump $6.5 m illio n into new prison construc tio n . But that b ill, sponsored by Kansas senator Robert Dole appears now to be facing rough times. Special Legislative Report and Questionnaire January, 1982 ’ Bankroll politics’ is bankrupting Oregon. Tax giveaways to the rich are the result. Now with a downturn in the economy they are asking w o rk in g people, car owners, senior citizens, women w ith needy children and students to sacrifice and to balance the budget. W ith the support o f the governor, the legislature has: •eliminated the tax on business inventories • allowed trucking companies to crowd and overload our highways: they are not asked to pay their share o f higway costs • phased out the inheritance tax, which only hit those with estates over a quarter million dollars •given an income tax break that only goes to those with incomes over $35,000 per year (cost $22 m illion last year, more next) Budget cuts impact counties •allowed the percentage o f corporation taxes to drop as the per centage o f personal income taxes rise in the states general fund by Don Clark, Multnomah County Executive O regon’s state and local govern ments have reached their most crit ical juncture in decades. The New Year either means cutting further into the meat and bone o f vital pro grams, or it means the unpopular prospect o f increasing taxes. Whichever course is chosen, the fiscal waters are fraught with prob lems. I f services continue to be cut, who w ill be asked to suffer the most? W ill we be jeopardizing the basic qualities o f life we enjoy in Oregon? If new revenues arc found, how do we make certain that the tax load is distributed fairlly? U nder a plan proposed by the Governor, Oregon would cut an ad- ditinal $147 million out o f state pro grams— including $68 million from Human Resources and a combined $65 million from education— during the current biennium. For M ultnom ah County, the im pact o f these cuts will be great. For the past several budget periods, the C o u n ty’ s services to the poor, the old, the handicapped have suffered more under the fiscal scalpel than other program s. E arlier this year, cuts at the state and federal level further eroded the C o u n ty ’ s com mitment to the “ have nots." We have now reached the distres sing point where O regon's bleak econom ic o u tlo o k has created unemployment, devastated key Ore gon industries and created whole new groups o f poor people— and yet state government is cutting the very services our citizens now desperately need. W hen the C o u n ty first exper ienced tight fiscal tim es— back in 1975 — we prepared ourselves to maintain our basic services in spite o f cutbacks and in flatio n . W e im plemented m illions o f dollars o f productivity savings, trim m ed our bureaucracy and found new rev enues the public could support. We survived by careful, conscien tious managem ent. O u r basic ser vices survived; our clients— young, old, poor— got served. This m onth's special legislative session, called for January 18, may be the most important in Oregon’ s recent h istory. It is a session in which the Legislature must some how resolve the tremendous deficit with which the state— by failing to p erfo rm sound long-range fiscal planning— must now contend. The State Department o f Human Resources, under the G o vern o r's proposal, would be cut by almost 10 per cent. A reduction that deep is • finally granted the people’s demands for property tax relief, only to give the largest benefits to those with homes valued over $130, 000 (1979) and to include suburban acreage. critical to the County because many o f those dollars are passed on to local governments to pay for direct services. The County’s Department o f H u man Services lost almost $2 million due to the earlier cuts. A dditional reductions w ill require us to cut more services— and once again the poor will be made to pay the great est price fo r poor fiscal planning and a dismal economy. ‘ Bankroll politics!’ Spend unlimited money in political campaigns. Spend this money to elect governors and most legislators w hile w orking people struggle to earn a liv in g and feed the ir fam ilies. That’ s how working people take a beating. Please return the below Questionnaire or write to me your thoughts. This w ill, help me know you care and to continue fighting fo r your views. Quickly! The special legislative session begins next week. I am reminded o f my budget mes sage last M arch to the Board o f C ounty Commissioners in which I said: “ I do not believe that the full bur den for the County’s fiscal problems should fall upon any one group— es pecially the poor. I also do not think that the n ear-p oo r in our com m unity— those who have paid their dues and haven’t expected many ser vices from governm ent — should find themselves, because o f our eco nomic con d itio n s, w ith o u t a jo b , without resources and without as sistance from local, state or federal government.” Rep. Wally Priestley QUESTIONNAIRE C u t th e B u dget $250 M illio n or raise Taxes? How would you cut the budget? 1. Would you cut school support? Which? Universities and colleges . Local school districts □ Community colleges O State aid to private universities (like the University o f Portland, Concordia. Reed, Lewis A C Iark, and Willamette University) □ 2. Which state human resource budgets would you cut? Needy children □ Senior citizens □ Prison funds □ Job finding services □ Public health and sanitation Mental health □ Vocational rehabilitation □ Other ___________ ___ ______________________________ Ten months later— at the begin ning o f a new y ea r— we face the same uncom fortable dilem m a. We mest resolve it in favor o f our citi zens. Would you cut: State police □ Land use planning □ National guard □ Parks □ Environmental controls □ 4. Should part □ or all □ of our deficit be made up with taxes? If yes. which taxes would you increase? A. Corporation taxes from 7.5V, to SV»? or B. Graduated corporation taxes from 5V» for small businesses to 8.75 V, for only the very large businesses? C. Increase taxes paid by out o f state insurance companies? D. Take back the tax break on earnings over $35,000 per year E. ‘One time’ 12 V, increase in everyone’s state income tax? F. Raise minimum corporation tax from $10 to $100 per year? G. IV , sales tax (State o f Washington type) Fred Meyer Super Shopping Centers Help Lower Your Cost of Living . . . C ut property tax relief . □ Increase personal income taxes □ Good i Bad □ Like the rest □ ___________________ FOLD FOLD STAMP N E Killingtworth at Union Interstate „ . Lombard at Interstate Peninsula □ 6. How do you rate me as your Representative? Comments • Walnut Park Yes No □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ 5. If we are facad w ith aithar cutting back on proparty tax raliaf or incraasing personal incoma taxes, which would you dislike the least? S h o p p in g C ^ n lp n Your nearby Fred Meyer Super Shopping Center i. filled w ith P • >ple Pleasing” services to make your shopping more pleasant. Wide, spacious aisles, fnendiv helpful clerxs anu un dc'cover parcel loading are just some of the "People Pleasing set vices to you Plus everyday low prices on thousands of items you use anu need everyday help lower your cost of living. Because we're open 9 a m. to 10 p m. daily, including Sunday, you can shop when ymi W ANT to, not when you HAVE to Come in anytime and "funshop" in a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. jj / * “Please "fcTp an3 Return This Queshonnaire . Lombard Plenty of Free and Easy Parking O pen 9 am to 10 pm daily, includin g S unday. Rep. Wally Priestley Room H276, Capitol Bldg. Salem, OR 97310 ■
