Page 2A
NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Friday, January 16, 2015
Legislative budget writers
propose $7.24B school fund
By PETER WONG
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s education es-
tablishment was the big winner, and hu-
man services and Gov. John Kitzhaber’s
targeted spending on education priorities
were the losers, in the two-year plan un-
veiled Wednesday by the Legislature’s
chief budget writers.
Sen. Richard Devlin of Tualatin and
Rep. Peter Buckley of Ashland, both
Democrats, proposed a state school fund
of $7.24 billion, up almost $600 million
from the current two-year cycle that ends
June 30.
Kitzhaber had proposed about $6.9
billion for the fund, from which Oregon’s
197 school districts draw the lion’s share
of operating costs.
Many teachers, administrators and
board members argued that the low-
maintain programs. Kitzhaber said if
Oregon is to make progress toward its
goals of graduating all students from high
school and 80 percent of them moving on
to college or advanced training by 2025,
the state needs to put more money in pro-
grams advancing those priorities.
The higher amount in the legislative
budget assumes $220 million for the cost
of full-day kindergarten, which schools
will start this fall.
That budget also proposes more state
support for community colleges and state
universities.
“Our goal is to move education for-
ward in all parts,” Buckley told reporters
in the presentation.
The state school fund is the largest sin-
gle chunk of the budget.
The proposal was contained in the
framework drawn up by Devlin and
Buckley, known as the “co-chairs’ bud-
get,” that will guide the Legislature’s bud-
get committee in deciding how to spend
more than $18 billion from the tax-sup-
ported general fund and lottery proceeds.
This is the earliest in years that the
framework has been unveiled.
“That’s an amazing accomplishment
in this day of dysfunctional governments
across our country,” Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said in a state-
ment.
Next steps
Unlike the governor’s budget, which
is presented as a single document, law-
makers approve spending bills for indi-
vidual agencies within the framework,
and do not vote on a single budget.
“There are still 10,000 different deci-
sions that still have to be made,” Devlin
said in reference to the details of agency
budgets that are reviewed by subcommit-
tees.
All those budgets have to be signed by
the governor.
Kitzhaber, in a statement released af-
ter the presentation, avoided an argument
with the legislative budget writers.
“I commend the co-chairs for the work
they have done this early in the year to put
together this framework. It is an import-
ant starting point,” Kitzhaber said.
But Senate Republicans came to the
defense of Kitzhaber’s education and
public safety proposals.
Sen. Chuck Thomsen, R-Hood River,
said the legislative plan gives short shrift
to the governor’s priorities, particularly in
school-to-work programs and improved
creases will come from the $800 million
Kitzhaber proposed for a variety of edu-
cation priorities, such as early childhood
and learning, reading skills improve-
ments, high school and college comple-
tion, and school-to-work programs.
“We believe a number of the priorities
that have been pointed out in education
… are very important,” Devlin said.
The legislative budget proposes $60
million, Devlin said, “to begin to look at
how those investments will be made, but
not making any decision on the divisions
between those various items.”
Kitzhaber had proposed formula shifts
to carve out about $120 million of the
-
cerns about a proposal to reward districts
based on their movement of students out
of English-learning programs.
Devlin said the legislative budget as-
sumes no formula shifts, but proposes
$34 million to assist districts with state
grants for the education of higher-cost
students with disabilities.
“Without meaningful
investment in career
education and STEM
programs, our students
will fall behind.” Future forecasts
— Sen. Chuck Thomsen,
R-Hood River
instruction in science, technology, engi-
neering and math.
“They may believe their education
budget is adequate, but kids and teachers
in classrooms across Oregon continue to
feel the pressure,” Thomsen said. “With-
out meaningful investment in career edu-
cation and STEM programs, our students
will fall behind.”
Sen. Jackie Winters of Salem, the top
Senate Republican on the budget com-
mittee, said Kitzhaber’s budget contains
money for local community corrections
initiatives that the legislative plan slashes.
“We’re disappointed that this budget
violates the agreement made in 2013 to
fund justice reinvestment grants support-
ing community corrections initiatives,”
Winters said. “While the governor hon-
ored the agreement in his budget, this
proposed 65 percent cut will place a
greater burden on our local public safety
organizations.”
Differing allocations
The legislative budget also proposes
$535 million in state aid to Oregon’s 17
community college districts, up from the
current $465 million and the $500 million
proposed by Kitzhaber.
The legislative budget proposes $635
million in direct support for the seven
state universities, which received full au-
tonomy last year. That amount is up from
the current $521.5 million and the $593.7
million proposed by Kitzhaber.
Much of the money for those in-
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SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Occasional rain
this morning
Spotty showers in
the afternoon
Breezy with rain,
then some sun
51° 34°
43° 40°
43° 39°
PENDLETON
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
37°
41°
68° (1974)
28°
27°
-8° (1907)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.25"
0.81"
0.25"
0.38"
0.81"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
41°
34°
41°
28°
63° (1961) -10° (1950)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.15"
0.62"
0.15"
0.27"
0.62"
SUN AND MOON
Jan 20
Jan 26
Mostly cloudy
52° 39°
49° 32°
Full
Feb 3
54° 39°
53° 33°
42° 28°
46° 28°
Seattle
50/39
through 3 p.m. yesterday
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Mostly cloudy, a
shower or two
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
TUESDAY
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
53° 33°
Yesterday
Normals
Records
MONDAY
7:32 a.m.
4:38 p.m.
3:28 a.m.
1:21 p.m.
Last
Feb 11
Spokane
Wenatchee
40/25
43/28
Tacoma
Moses
50/36
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 44/27
42/30
51/41
50/39
48/27
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
50/40
51/35 Lewiston
54/31
Astoria
48/31
52/43
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
52/42
Pendleton 41/20
The Dalles 53/33
51/34
52/34
La Grande
Salem
44/23
54/45
Albany
Corvallis 53/43
53/46
John Day
44/26
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
36/24
55/46
47/31
Caldwell
Burns
39/26
43/24
Medford
56/47
REGIONAL FORECAST
Eastern Washington: Rain near the Idaho border
today; snow in the mountains. Showers of rain
and snow in the north. A shower across the south.
Cascades: A little rain in the morning; other-
wise, mostly cloudy and breezy today.
Northern California: Downpours today;
snow, accumulating 1-3 inches in the
interior mountains.
KENNEWICK, Wash.
(AP) — No new cases of
in Benton County.
Federal
and
state
investigators have visited
nearly 730 properties near
the Richland and Benton
recently diagnosed with
The state Department of
Agriculture said Thursday
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Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
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WINDS
Boardman
Pendleton
Today
Saturday
WSW 10-20
WSW 10-20
NE 3-6
SE 4-8
UV INDEX TODAY
0
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NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
WORLD CITIES
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were euthanized last week
to control the spread of
disease.
Corrections
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541-27 -26 3 a a o s eastore onian. om
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not contagious to humans.
Chickens,
turkeys,
ducks and other birds
ADVERTISING
Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson
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Today
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
that samples were taken
from birds at 66 different
properties. All of the
samples submitted have
Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, not Senate President
Peter Courtney, met Wednesday with Rep. Greg. Smith,
R-Heppner, and others to discuss the budget framework
for the 2015 Legislature.
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the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
REGIONAL CITIES
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Coastal Oregon: Variable clouds today. A
shower; morning downpours, then a few
showers in the south.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Morning snow and rain
today; in upper Treasure Valley, any time in the south.
Afternoon rain; arriving in upper Treasure Valley.
Western Washington: A shower or two in
the morning; otherwise, variable clouds
today.
This undated photo provided by the Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife shows a young bear
at the Wildlife Health Services Lab in Corvallis,
who fell from a tree earlier this month in South-
ern Oregon. Veterinarians are appealing to ac-
credited zoos across the continent to rehabilitate
the scrawny but otherwise healthy young bear.
The female black bear weighed slightly more
than 13 pounds when it was found upside down
in blackberry bushes. Biologists say that at 9 to
12 months old, it should have weighed 40 to 60
pounds going into winter.
Real Estate Advertising: Jodi Snook
541-27 -267 snook eastore onian. om
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
49/37
Fallen bear needs home
Classi ed Advertising:
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esday t ro
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Forecast
TODAY
AP Photo/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Dr. Colin Gillin
If future revenue forecasts project
more money available in the next two
years — there will be two more forecasts
before the start of the budget cycle July 1
— Devlin and Buckley said they want to
boost the state school fund by $20 million
more, community colleges and state uni-
versities each by $15 million more, and
early childhood programs by $10 million
more.
The biggest chunk for restorations,
however, is $40 million for human ser-
vices, which Devlin and Buckley shaved
by $140 million in their framework.
Additional add-backs if more money
become available are $30 million for pub-
lic safety, and $15 million for economic
development and natural resources.
Democrats outnumber Republicans
in both chambers, but Democrats do not
have the 60 percent majorities required to
pass revenue-raising measures without at
least one Republican vote in the House.
Although some agency budgets as-
sume fee increases, the legislative bud-
get plan envisions only a continuation
of a 50-cent-per-bottle fee on state liquor
sales.
The top House Republican on the
joint budget committee, Rep. Greg Smith
of Heppner, said Republicans will resist
general tax increases to raise more mon-
ey.
“We know that passing a state budget
that pays our bills and delivers essential
services to Oregonians will require bipar-
tisan cooperation,” Smith said. “Howev-
er, we will not support tax increase pro-
posals that hurt working families, small
businesses and rural communities.”
1
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8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
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rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
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cold front
70s
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110s
high
low
National Summary: Chilly air will race across the Northeast with gusty winds and flurries
today. Much of the area from the Southwest to the Plains and Southeast will be mild. Rain
and snow will affect the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 79° in Tamiami, Fla.
Low -26° in Presque Isle, Maine
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
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Louisville
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Miami
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Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
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Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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