WEEKEND EDITION INSIDE TODAY: PEnDLeTON VISItoRs GUIdE GROGAN ALL-EO PLAYER OF THE YEAR HEALING WITH HORSES SPORTS/1B LIFESTYLES/1C JUNE 24-25, 2017 141st Year, No. 180 Editor’s note: Promise & Potential is an ongoing series following young adults as they leave high school and head into the world. $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Shaking the sophomore slump Ore. House advances disputed revenue bill Would put limits on a tax cut for certain business owners By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau Kodie Arnold Patrick Collins Laura Dewey fl irtation with switching to engineering physics, Lacey is sticking with astronautical engineering as a part of his longterm goal to land a job at NASA. By all academic measures, Lacey has excelled at Embry- Riddle. He scored a perfect 4.0 in all of his classes this year and an International Space Station gym concept he worked on with some peers SALEM — The Oregon House of Repre- sentatives Friday narrowly passed legislation that would make it harder for businesses to qualify for tax breaks passed in 2013 as part of the so-called “grand bargain.” The bill, which now heads to the Oregon Senate, puts new limits on a tax cut for certain business owners, and should it pass, is expected to raise nearly $196 million in the next two years. It’s a far cry from the major tax over- haul many Oregon Democrats called for this session, but after a stalemate over proposals to switch the basis for taxing businesses from income to sales two weeks before legislators must close the books, it now appears to be the session’s big tax vote. After a nearly three-hour debate the measure passed with 31 Democrats voting in favor. All House Republicans and three Democrats voted against it: Rep. Brad Witt, of Clatskanie; Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon, of Woodburn; and Rep. Caddy McKeown, of Coos Bay. A fourth Democrat, Rep. Deborah Boone, of Cannon Beach, was excused. Under current law, owners of S-corpo- rations, limited liability companies or part- nerships can choose to have income “passed through” to them from the business taxed at a lower rate, as long as the income they earn from the business is “non-passive,” the business employs at least one non-owner, and the non-owner employee or employees do at least 1,200 hours of work in a year. By taking the lower rate, owners give up other deductions. The bill the House approved Friday would limit eligibility for the lower income rate to seven sectors, including agriculture, mining and manufacturing. To qualify under the new bill, businesses would also need to have at least 10 non-owner employees, instead of one. In short, the bill means fewer owners would be eligible to pay the lower rate, and so some of those removed from eligibility under the bill would pay higher income taxes. By tweaking the cut as the bill outlines, the state would collect about $196 million more in taxes in the next two-year budget. That’s a signifi cant fi gure in light of a projected gap of about $1.4 billion between See STUDENTS/10A See REVENUE/12A CeCe Hoffman Laura Zepeda Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton graduate Ryan Lacey has been inputing data for program that charts the chemical makeup of soil while working as a research assistant at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service outside of Pendleton. More than a quarter of college students don’t stay enrolled for second year. Six local students are sticking it out. By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN and ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian For the all the work it takes for high school students to get into college, it isn’t always easy to stay there. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, of all the students who started college in fall 2014, 72.1 percent were still enrolled at an American institution by the fall of 2015, while 60.6 percent started the 2015 fall term at the same college they started with. Defying some of these trends, six students that were profi led as a part of the Promise & Potential series are not only continuing onto their sophomore years, but most plan to stay at their original schools. While some students are starting to explore different academic paths, their lives in college are starting to come into focus. ——— Ryan Lacey doesn’t know anyone in his social circle who has dropped out of college, but he knows Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has its fair share. Lacey, a PHS grad, said it’s also pretty common for many of his peers at the Daytona Beach, Florida school to switch majors to something less science intensive like business or unmanned aerial systems. Despite a brief PENDLETON Wiener dog winner has another boom year By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Boomer, a four-year-old dachshund owned by Joe Daniels of Kennewick, cross- es the fi nish line to take the championships of the 11th Annual Dogtona 400 wiener dog race on Main Street in Pendleton. A new dynasty was born Friday. On the hallowed grounds of the 400 block of Pendleton’s Main Street, the 11th annual Dogtona 400 crowned Boomer its wiener dog race king Friday. It was Boomer’s second straight win in Pendleton following two straight years of coming in second place. The representative of the previous wiener dog dynasty — Miss Fatty Patty — did not participate. “Every wiener is a winner tonight.” — Sam Neal, emcee for Dogtona 400 “We make a big deal about it, but it’s all for fun,” Boomer’s owner Joe Daniels said as a young fan petted the champion. This year’s Dogtona 400 consistently redefi ned what it means to be a champion. Could a pug dressed in a red, white and blue cowgirl costume See RACE/12A