NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Brown sets ambitious course to begin final term
Governor’s budget
includes $2 billion
education increase
Brown unveils budget for 2019-21
Gov. Kate Brown addresses increased spending for schools, energy issues
and law enforcement in her proposed two-year state budget plan.
General Fund
By AUBREY WIEBER
and CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown stood at her lectern
in the walnut-paneled cer-
emonial office Wednesday
morning to deliver a sym-
bolic message as she released
a budget she characterized as
“ambitious.”
“Oregon’s motto is not
‘She rests on her laurels.’ It
is ‘She flies with her own
wings.’ And I think it’s time
for Oregon to soar,” Brown
told reporters.
In revealing ambitions
for her final term, Brown
announced a record expan-
sion of school funding,
a revamping of the state
approach to energy issues
and readying for legal bat-
tle against the Trump
administration.
Under her proposed two-
year budget, school kids
would have smaller classes
and more teachers, more
Oregonians could find hous-
ing, and the state’s highway
would be patrolled by more
troopers.
Overall, she is proposing
a total two-year state bud-
Photo by Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown presents her proposed budget on Wednesday at the Capitol in Salem.
get of $83.5 billion, includ-
ing $22.3 billion in general
fund spending. Currently,
the state is working off a $74
billion budget that includes
$19.8 billion in general fund
money, which primarily
comes from tax collections.
Brown unveiled her
spending blueprint at a news
conference at the Capitol. Her
ideas now face the legislative
gauntlet and certain modifi-
cation before the new budget
cycle starts next July 1.
Part of that process will be
finding the money to make
such a large investment in
education.
State Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend, said he believes
there is bipartisan appetite
for such a budget. In fact, as
a member of an interim com-
mittee looking into educa-
tion funding, Knopp said he
thinks the Legislature will
ultimately pass a larger, more
expensive education package
than Brown is proposing.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Mostly cloudy
Mostly cloudy with
a shower
A rain or snow
shower in spots
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
Partly sunny and
chilly
45° 38°
47° 35°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
41° 31°
40° 27°
38° 26°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 35°
45° 33°
45° 28°
OREGON FORECAST
41° 28°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
46/33
47/29
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
46/37
Lewiston
50/42
47/39
Astoria
51/41
Pullman
Yakima 46/35
50/38
50/35
Portland
Hermiston
52/41
The Dalles 47/38
Salem
Corvallis
50/37
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
44/31
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
49/40
42/29
45/34
Ontario
46/33
Caldwell
Burns
53°
33°
44°
30°
67° (2014) 0° (1931)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
50/40
Trace
0.29"
1.10"
6.74"
8.76"
8.38"
WINDS (in mph)
46/33
38/25
0.01"
0.50"
1.36"
8.65"
15.26"
11.35"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 42/29
52/40
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
45/38
46/36
55°
39°
43°
30°
71° (1892) -13° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
51/38
49/40
44/32
42/33
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
51/42
Olympia
Today
50/37
Fri.
NNE 3-6
NW 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
SW 4-8
WSW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
43/27
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:13 a.m.
4:14 p.m.
11:35 p.m.
12:46 p.m.
Last
New
First
Full
Nov 29
Dec 6
Dec 15
Dec 22
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 79° in Borrego Springs, Calif. Low -3° in Daniel, Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
57.8
13.6
42.6
44.3
44.2
2009-11
Total FTEs:
38,197.6
2011-13
Total FTEs:
37,573.6
2013-15
Total FTEs:
37,835.8
61.1
15.6
54.5
51
2015-17
Total FTEs:
38,615.3
2017-19
Total FTEs:
39,464
2019-21
Total FTEs:
41,100
NOTES: Sums may not equal totals due to rounding. FTE=Full Time Equivalents, or the number of positions equal to a full-time employee.
TODAY
Aberdeen
59.8
55.9
13.3
74.4
19.9
55.9
18
Source: Legislative Fiscal Office, Oregon State Legislature
Forecast for Pendleton Area
47° 38°
Other budget
(Billions of dollars)
$83.5 billion:
Up 12.2%
from 2017-19
22.3
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
cold front
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60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
“I think the governor’s
proposal is a great starting
point, and there are likely
to be additional investments
that need to be made,” he
said.
Over the past three
decades, Oregon has ignored
education spending, Brown
said Wednesday. The state
has fallen into a housing cri-
sis and has failed to fight cli-
mate change. With a strong
economy, now is the time to
reach to the state’s potential,
she said.
“We can no longer do
things the way we have in the
past,” Brown said. “We must
go up as a state, and we need
to decide together what kind
of state we want to be over
the next 20 years.”
Ready for the future
Days before Brown won
re-election, she told the Cap-
ital Bureau her legacy would
be Future Ready Oregon,
her comprehensive policy
designed to steer the state’s
economy for generations
while withstanding eco-
nomic downturns.
The building blocks for
that can be found through-
out her proposed budget,
from the $2 billion increase
in education funding to the
construction of up to 2,100
affordable homes to increases
in child welfare services.
“She’s been around long
enough to know this is her
four years of opportunity,”
said Katy Coba, director of
the Department of Adminis-
trative Services. “This bud-
get does lay that ground
work.”
Coba has been in state
politics for more than two
decades, and led the state
Department of Agriculture
before Brown appointed her
to run DAS in 2016. She said
with a strong economy and
a Legislature favorable to
Brown’s policies, the “stars
aligned.”
“It is truly a historic
opportunity for a governor
to put together an aggressive
budget, and that is exactly
what this governor has
done,” Coba said.
Brown
clearly
was
focused on schools.
According to the pro-
posed budget, education is
now underfunded by $1 bil-
lion per year. To counter that,
Brown is proposing spending
$800 million of her new edu-
cation dollars on bolstering
the K-12 system, expanding
the school year to 180 days
and limiting class sizes for
kindergarten through third
grade.
The proposed budget
opens up 10,000 new state-
funded preschool slots and
dedicates $4 million for state
visits to homes with young
children.
The governor has also
made career technical train-
ing a larger part of pub-
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lic education, proposing an
additional $133 million goes
to CTE programs in public
schools and $70 million goes
to colleges.
Knopp said the emphasis
on early learning and CTE is
vital.
“That is one thing we
have seen has made a dif-
ference in graduation rates,”
he said. But Knopp said the
Student Success Committee
isn’t done. It toured the state
and found that each region
has different needs, and the
committee plans to address
them.
“I think you are going
to see some equally ambi-
tious proposals from the Stu-
dent Success Committee in
improving education,” he
said.
Other priorities
While education is a huge
part of her investment pack-
age, Brown also wants to
allocate $406 million to the
state’s housing crisis, spend-
ing on new affordable units,
housing assistance programs,
providing gap financing for
new construction, and fund-
ing efforts to eradicate child
and veteran homelessness in
Oregon.
Brown also unveiled
her blueprint for Oregon
to implement cap, trade
and invest policy for car-
bon emissions. It would set
gradually tighter limits for
emissions and allow compa-
nies to sell any excess emis-
sions capacity in the form of
credits. Those credits could
then be sold to other compa-
nies who exceed the limits.
Similar legislation has been
cycling through the Legisla-
ture in recent years.
Less expected, however,
is Brown’s proposal to dis-
mantle the Oregon Depart-
ment of Energy and Car-
bon Policy Office and create
the Oregon Climate Author-
ity. Brown needs legisla-
tive approval to make the
change and it’s unclear what
would happen to other duties
in the beleaguered Energy
Department.
Brown’s policy advisors,
Jason Miner and Kristen
Sheeran, said the Legislature
will look at what the state
wants to accomplish, and put
responsibilities that fit under
Oregon Climate Authority
and move the others to dif-
ferent agencies, such as the
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality.
Sheeran said the state is
leaving the option open to
join an existing third-party
marketplace that several
governments in the U.S. and
Canada use to trade but might
start its own marketplace.
While the logistics are
still being figured out,
Sheeran said this new agency
is groundbreaking and unlike
any other in the nation.
The policies are flashy
and expensive, but they
are also what Brown cam-
paigned on. Issues, such as
education spending and a
carbon cap, have been exam-
ined in recent months by leg-
islative committees.
“We’re tackling some
big things: education, health
care, climate,” Coba said.
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“Those are all big, big items.
And yet, there seems to be
a lot of political alignment,
so it’s not coming out of left
field. These things are teed
up.”
Other policies
In addition to the more
eye-catching pillars of the
budget, Brown is propos-
ing other impactful poli-
cies throughout. The Oregon
State Police is funded by the
general fund, where there is
always high competition for
dollars. As a result, trooper
numbers have not kept pace
with population increases,
and there are now eight
troopers for every 100,000
Oregonians.
Brown plans to double
the number of troopers in the
next decade, and is starting
by allocating $11 million to
fill vacancies and add 10 new
positions. She also said she
will seek modest gun con-
trol legislation and follow up
on the campaign promise of
spending in rural Oregon.
The governor shared other
proposals to change the state
that don’t cost tens or hun-
dreds of millions of dollars.
She wants to push for cam-
paign finance reform, estab-
lish a commission to look
into “dark money” and a real-
time reporting of spending
and contributions for politi-
cal campaigns.
She also wants to expand
her motor voter policy so
Oregonians buying fishing
licenses, taking public col-
lege classes or signing up
for health care through the
state exchange automatically
will be registered to vote, as
they are now when regis-
tering with the DMV. Addi-
tionally, Brown is propos-
ing that mailed ballots come
with return envelopes carry-
ing prepaid postage.
“This has been a dream
for me since my days as sec-
retary of state,” Brown said.
Brown said legally, she
has the authority to make this
change, though she hasn’t
talked with Secretary of State
Dennis Richardson about
expanding motor voter. She
said the expansion will be
gradual and in line with com-
puter improvements.
The budget plan also
includes $875 million from
new and renewed taxes and
penalties, including a $2 per-
pack cigarette tax. She also
plans to hire 13 internal state
agency auditors to look for
ways to be more efficient.
Funding for Brown’s
investment proposals have
not been worked out. Brown
said she is committed to her
policy ideas, and believes
Oregonians want to pay for
these investments.
In the 2019 Legislature,
Brown said she will work
with lawmakers as well as
the backers of the Common
Good Fund, comprised of
businesses like Nike as well
as unions, to come up with
revenue.
“It’s going to take more
than legislators and myself
and members of the busi-
ness community to make this
happen,” Brown said. “It’s
going to take all of us rowing
together.”
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