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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Thursday, March 9, 2017 Governor restructures staff to respond to Trump edicts Oregonians I’ve met from across the state who’ve told me how my office can better serve them. To seize the opportunity that challenge has presented, it is imperative the Gover- nor’s Office is poised to respond nimbly and bring stability to the vital services Oregon families rely on.” The changes entail new job descriptions and titles for two existing staffers, Gina Zejdlik and Debbie Zoreski, and a new part- time position of senior adviser on transformation and budget stability. Former Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ash- land, has been appointed to fill the By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown has restructured her staff to respond to rapid policy changes coming down from the Trump administration and potential reforms to the state pension system and Brown state revenue. “Oregon faces unprecedented challenges, new and institutional, on both the statewide and national scale,” Gov. Brown said in a prepared statement Tuesday, March 7. “The appointments I’m announcing today are part of a larger internal staffing adjustment informed by the new part-time role. As former co-chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means from 2008 to 2016, Buckley oversaw the state budget-writing process. In his new role, he will focus on building stability for major cost drivers in state government and potential revenue reform. He will earn a salary of more than $5,400 per month for 20 hours of work. In a text message to the Pamplin Media Group/EO Media Group Capital Bureau, Buckley said he plans to maintain his job working at the Southern Oregon Education Service District in Medford, where he is project manager of the Southern Oregon Success program. He will Oregon lawmakers consider limiting biodigester tax credits SALEM (AP) — Faced with an estimated $1.6 billion-deficit in the upcoming two-year budget cycle, poli- cymakers in Salem are looking to poten- tially boost the state’s revenue stream directly from Oregon homeowners. State lawmakers are hosting debates this week on two proposals that would reduce or nix entirely the allowable deductions that some taxpayers can claim from mortgage interest and property taxes. While the state so far hasn’t officially estimated how much extra revenue might be raised, Jody Wiser, founder of Tax Fairness Oregon, told lawmakers this week her organization recently calculated that Oregon homeowners were saving $1.9 billion per biennium from mortgage interest and property tax deductions and also capital gains-tax exclusions. “These help people buy bigger homes, but they don’t necessarily help people buy a home,” said Wiser, who supports both proposals but also acknowledged the changes may be “abrupt” for those who’d be dually affected by each. Wiser’s comments were heard during the first debate Tuesday for House Bill 2771, which would revoke property tax deductions for the wealth- iest Oregon homeowners who earn at least $125,000 annually, or $250,000- plus when married and filing jointly. Others may deduct only a percentage of their property taxes, the rates of which would be determined by how much income they earn above $50,000, or $100,000 filing jointly. Additional revenues as a result of the changes would go to the state’s general fund, the biggest pot of discretionary spending money for the Legislature and Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Bureau Steve Smith, a technician for Farm Power Tillamook LLC, explains the functioning of a dairy biodigester near Tillamook, in this file photo. Lawmakers are considering limiting tax credits for biodigesters to facilities operational before 2017. The tax credit is one approach, but Oregon could simply require large “confined animal feeding operations” to cover the cost instead of using the general fund, he said. Lawmakers should consider the extent to which the tax credit encourages the development of new large CAFOs, Barnhart said. “They have a number of prob- lems associated with them,” such as air and water pollution, he said. Representatives of the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, the Oregon Farm Bureau and Threemile Canyon Farms — a dairy near Boardman — testified against HB 2853, arguing the tax credit has promoted air quality and contributed to renewable energy development. By relying on regulation rather than incentives, the government would effectively impose a new tax on dairies as well as their customers, said Len Bergstein, representative of Threemile Canyon Farms. “There’s a reason we’ve decided to go in a different direc- tion in Oregon,” Bergstein said. By limiting the tax credit, lawmakers would unwittingly be playing into the anti-dairy agenda of certain activists who oppose new facilities in Oregon, he said. Dairy producers already made a sacrifice last year, when they agreed for the tax credit to be reduced from $5 per wet ton of manure to $3.50 in exchange for keeping the incentive until 2021, Bergstein said. Didn’t receive your paper? 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Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast TODAY FRIDAY Cloudy with a little rain; cool Breezy with periods of sun 52° 46° 57° 35° SATURDAY SUNDAY Cloudy with a couple of showers Cloudy with a shower or two MONDAY Remaining cloudy PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 52° 42° 57° 41° 64° 49° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 60° 34° 51° 46° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 45° 53° 73° (2004) 41° 34° 18° (1897) 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 0.05" 0.41" 0.29" 4.33" 2.87" 2.80" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 53° 55° 72° (2005) 43° 32° 15° (1931) 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 0.02" 0.17" 0.26" 3.63" 1.92" 2.50" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Full Last Mar 12 Mar 20 New Mar 27 61° 40° 65° 48° Seattle 46/44 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 52° 44° 6:19 a.m. 5:53 p.m. 3:01 p.m. 4:44 a.m. First Apr 3 Today Spokane Wenatchee 39/36 38/32 Tacoma Moses 45/43 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 43/37 43/40 47/43 46/42 48/37 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 53/47 51/48 Lewiston 49/45 Astoria 49/42 53/45 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 55/49 Pendleton 46/40 The Dalles 51/46 52/46 53/41 La Grande Salem 51/44 56/49 Albany Corvallis 56/48 57/49 John Day 55/47 Ontario Eugene Bend 55/42 57/48 52/41 Caldwell Burns 58/46 48/34 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 Hi 53 49 52 55 48 46 57 51 51 55 57 51 48 61 53 57 55 49 52 55 56 56 39 48 55 51 48 Lo 45 36 41 47 34 40 48 43 46 47 39 44 44 46 48 50 42 42 46 49 38 49 36 41 48 48 37 W r r r r c r r r r r r r r r r r c r r r r r r r r r r Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Lo 31 63 50 41 51 30 44 43 26 65 40 W s pc s pc pc pc sh pc s pc s Lo 37 27 33 43 21 28 40 33 34 36 30 33 32 38 42 44 31 34 35 38 30 40 29 29 39 40 30 W sh pc c c pc pc c pc pc pc pc pc c c sh c c pc pc sh c sh c pc sh sh pc Fri. Hi 65 74 61 55 75 42 58 68 49 74 54 Lo 34 67 45 47 51 35 41 42 28 64 40 W s pc s pc pc r pc s s pc s WINDS Medford 61/46 (in mph) Klamath Falls 57/39 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Periods of rain today. Rain and drizzle tonight, except a shower in the south. Eastern and Central Oregon: Considerable cloudiness today with a shower; however, dry in the south. Western Washington: Times of rain today. Eastern Washington: Rain today; however, snow and rain in the north; a bit of snow, ac- cumulating up to an inch in the mountains. Cascades: Periods of rain today. Today Friday SSE 4-8 SSE 6-12 WSW 10-20 WSW 10-20 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 0 1 2 1 0 0 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. Northern California: Mostly cloudy today and tonight. Intervals of clouds and sun- shine tomorrow. NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. WORLD CITIES Hi 61 69 72 57 72 42 57 65 49 72 53 Corrections The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Fri. Hi 50 56 52 57 50 47 59 54 60 56 57 54 52 63 52 56 58 60 57 56 56 57 49 50 54 59 59 governor that mostly benefits education, health care and various human services. Lawmakers will hear testimony Thursday for House Bill 2006, which would allow mortgage interest deduc- tions from loans only on the home- owner’s primary residence, excluding vacation homes or other secondary properties. The deductions would also be capped at different thresholds depending on the homeowner’s taxable income above or below $100,000, or $200,000 filed jointly. Additional revenue resulting from those changes would be diverted to the Oregon Housing Fund to boost funding for various housing-assistance programs that are currently strained by the ongoing housing affordability crisis occurring statewide. Federally, there’s already a cap on mortgage interest deductions for the first $500,000 of any loan for single filers, or the first $1 million for joint filers; deductions from second mort- gages are allowed on the first $100,000 of loan debt. House Republican leader Mike McLane blasted the measures as “toxic” policies put forth by the Democratic majority. “At a time when housing afford- ability is already a major concern in our state, HB 2006 and HB 2771 would only make it more difficult for Oregon families to pay their bills,” McLane said in a statement. Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com Advertising Director: Marissa Williams 541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com Advertising Services: Laura Jensen 541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Terri Briggs 541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com • Danni Halladay 541-278-2683 • dhalladay@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Chris McClellan 541-966-0827 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com • Stephanie Newsom 541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — of Staff Nik Blosser. Her resume also includes posi- tions as deputy legislative counsel for the Oregon Legislature and chief of staff, legislative director, and interim elections director during Brown’s tenure as secretary of state. In her new role as senior director of budget and children’s policy, Koreski will coordinate the gover- nor’s budget for the next biennium and retain her policy advising duties related to housing and human services. Koreski joined the Governor’s Office in December 2016 after serving as associate vice president for government relations at Port- land State University. She will earn a monthly salary of $10,828. Lawmakers eye homeowner tax breaks for budget fix By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon’s anticipated budget shortfall has prompted lawmakers to consider limiting tax credits for processing livestock manure into energy in biodigesters. Biodigesters break down manure, releasing methane gas which is used to generate elec- tricity. The remaining solids have many uses. They are expensive, and farmers have used the tax credits to offset the costs. Under House Bill 2853, tax credits would only be available for manure processed in biodi- gesters that were operational before the end of 2016. The credit effectively costs Oregon about $4 million a year in foregone tax revenue and has the potential to grow more expensive due to the proposed construction of a large dairy, said Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, during a March 7 hearing on HB 2853. Barnhart said he’s not “wedded” to the idea of disqual- ifying biodigesters that became operational in 2017 or later from tax credits and would appreciate alternative suggestions from the House Agriculture Committee. “If we don’t do anything, this credit is going to increase significantly over the next couple years,” he said. The question pertains to how Oregon encourages the adoption of biodigesters, said Barnhart. work remotely from Southern Oregon but will report to work in Salem for meetings throughout the Legislature’s 160-day legislative session, which started Feb. 1. Buckley represented Southern Oregon from 2005 until January. In addition to Ways and Means, he served on the House education, rules and transportation commit- tees. Zejdlik, a staffer in the Gover- nor’s Office since 2013, has been appointed as deputy chief of staff with a monthly salary of $10,828. Zejdlik will lead the Governor’s Office’s evaluation of and response to new federal policies. She most recently led the chief of staff search and transition of duties to new Chief Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Rain and snow showers will affect northern New England today. Showers and storms will gather from Texas to Florida. Rain and snow will fall on the Northwest. Rain and snow will develop over the Ohio Valley. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 89° in McAllen, Texas Low 3° in Crosby, N.D. 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 Hi 73 74 58 67 25 74 58 48 76 68 43 48 79 69 43 84 1 17 78 80 64 81 71 81 74 87 Lo 42 57 41 42 17 61 46 30 55 43 21 29 63 37 21 50 -9 -9 68 64 29 53 29 59 54 59 W s s s s sn s c s s s pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc c pc s pc s pc s Fri. Hi 74 71 45 47 31 70 59 39 79 44 31 32 77 71 32 84 12 13 80 78 39 84 45 83 64 82 Lo 44 41 22 19 20 39 35 16 44 17 16 16 61 40 13 52 -9 1 69 62 19 52 24 60 39 58 Today W s pc sn c sn pc c sn pc c pc sf t pc pc pc pc pc sh t pc sh pc pc pc s Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee 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 Hi 72 75 80 41 33 74 77 56 80 55 62 86 40 51 75 36 65 73 75 61 77 65 46 87 68 74 Lo 39 55 66 15 4 50 62 36 44 20 41 59 22 28 50 12 39 49 34 42 57 51 44 54 46 34 W s pc s sn c s pc s t pc s s s s s c pc pc s pc s pc r s s pc Fri. Hi 49 60 82 28 21 57 77 41 63 35 45 88 35 37 72 33 66 73 46 62 73 66 51 89 51 55 Lo 26 40 65 12 7 31 62 20 50 20 21 59 9 16 32 15 37 48 26 37 56 51 38 55 24 36 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc pc pc pc pc pc t sn sh pc sn s sf sn pc sn pc pc pc c s pc sh s r pc
