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East Oregonian
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Tax: Proceeds would pay for health insurance for low-income residents
Continued from Page A1
coveted and protected by cigarette
companies that spend thousands
in political donations in Oregon
and millions to defeat policies they
find unfavorable.
Brown has conceded she won’t
get the three-fifths of votes in the
House and Senate needed to pass
a tax. But she believes she can get
legislators to refer the tax to the
ballot, where she thinks it will
pass.
Tobacco taxes are histori-
cally challenging to pass in Ore-
gon. In 2007, voters turned
down an 84.5-cent tobacco tax
increase. The proposal didn’t get
the required majority in the Leg-
islature, and instead was referred
to the ballot. That measure would
have amended the Constitution
and dedicated new tax money
toward health care for low-income
children.
Last year, Deborah Kafoury,
Multnomah County commis-
sioner, and the Oregon Nurses
Association tried to get a $2 state-
wide increase on the state ballot,
but the petitioners couldn’t mus-
ter the needed signatures to force
a public vote. The Oregon Nurses
Association at the time found
tobacco companies had spent $16
million in the past decade to influ-
ence Oregon policy.
Oregon ranks 32nd in the coun-
try in the cost of the tobacco tax.
Washington’s tax is more than $3
per pack.
The largest concentration of
low tobacco tax rates is found in
the southeast, where most states
charge a tax of less than a dollar
per pack.
In Oregon, Republicans have
opposed tobacco taxes, but Dem-
ocrats now have the three-fifths
majorities in Salem so they could
pass an increase without Republi-
can legislators.
Still, it’s no certainty.
“There is a better awareness on
the impacts of tobacco on health
care costs,” Brown said last week
when asked about the proposal.
Brown’s proposal — House
Bill 2270 — was moved on to the
House Committee on Revenue
during a work session Tuesday. It
was not discussed.
And while those pushing the
tax increase are quick to say it’s
an uphill battle, there hasn’t been
much of a fight so far this session.
The House and Senate Republi-
can caucuses said haven’t taken a
formal position on the tobacco tax
increase.
One knock on a tobacco tax is
that it’s regressive, meaning it dis-
proportionally hits low-income
people. The federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
found that people without a col-
lege education and who are below
the federal poverty level are more
likely to smoke.
State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner
Hayward, D-Portland, sees it
more as a Pigouvian tax, meant
to correct an undesirable outcome
of a product, such as health care
costs associated with things such
as tobacco, alcohol or sugar.
Christopher Friend, a lobby-
ist for the American Cancer Soci-
ety, said a tobacco tax hits cer-
tain populations harder because
Big Tobacco targets low-income,
minority and LGBT communities.
“We see it as a policy that actu-
ally helps these communities,”
Friend said. “We know 60 to 70
percent of current smokers want to
quit, and a significant tobacco tax
is a really good encouragement to
quit.”
Steiner Hayward, a doctor,
staunchly supports the proposal.
“It’s appropriate to use tobacco
taxes to pay for Medicaid because
our Medicaid expenses wouldn’t
be so high if people didn’t smoke,”
she said. “It seems like a logical
thing to do.”
Altria, one of the largest
tobacco companies in the world
and parent company to Philip
Morris, regularly provides dona-
tions of about $1,000 to Oregon
politicians’ campaigns. It mostly
donates to Republicans, but also
give to Democrats. In 2017, it
gave $33,500 to Promote Oregon
Leadership, the House Republican
campaign arm. In 2018 it gave the
PAC $8,000.
Lobbyists for Altria didn’t
return a request for comment.
State Rep. Cedric Hayden,
R-Roseburg, has supported a
tobacco tax before. He is open to
increasing the tobacco tax but said
the state should change where cur-
rent tobacco dollars go.
Hayden agreed that a large por-
tion of the revenue should go to
health care, but argued that the
tax itself won’t stop people from
smoking.
He said 5 or 10 percent of the
dollars should to go education pro-
grams, such as anti-smoking signs
in stores. Right now, he said, about
1.5 percent of tobacco tax reve-
nue goes to such campaigns. Thir-
ty-nine percent goes into the gen-
eral fund, which Hayden dislikes.
“Take the existing tax that
comes from that source, and put it
in health care,” Hayden said. “And
then, show to me that your intent
is to actually get people healthier.”
Hayden said before he would
consider a tobacco tax hike, he
Denton: Her dedication to fitness is inspiring to others
Continued from Page A1
“Aaaannnd
switch,”
Smith directed the 18 exer-
cisers in her class.
The
petite
Denton
scooted over to a lower back
machine and got settled,
selecting the level of resis-
tance with two adjustment
buttons. Looking flashy in
a turquoise top, black capri
workout pants and black-
and-pink Nikes, she began
pumping her body forward
and back.
Bonnie Douglas, pedal-
ing a stationary bike nearby,
spoke of snow in the fore-
cast and inclined her head at
Denton.
“It won’t deter her,”
Douglas said. “She’ll be
back this afternoon.”
When it’s icy or snowy,
Denton takes a taxi, said
front desk attendant Keegan
Mishler.
“She calls to check and
make sure de-icer has been
spread,” Mishler said.
One icy day, he tried to
talk her into staying home.
A couple of hours later,
Denton walked in the front
door and smiled at him.
She says she has always
been active. As a child, she
climbed tall fir trees near
her home in The Dalles and
played school sports.
“In grade school, they
didn’t have enough boys, so
I played football,” she said.
“In high school, I took every
sport. I was never still.”
She hasn’t changed.
“As long as I’m in motion,
I’m happy,” she said.
During
her
years
with husband, Bob, now
deceased, she regularly ran
six miles as he rode along
on his bike. The couple and
Contributed photo
Velva Denton celebrates her 100th birthday on Oct. 9, 2017,
at the Roundup Athletic Club.
their two children spent
plenty of time outdoors,
camping, hiking and fish-
ing. She and Bob regularly
biked from Pendleton to
Adams and back.
Denton, who has an
assortment of grandchil-
dren, great-grandchildren
and great-great-grandchil-
dren, retired from her com-
munications job at the East-
ern Oregon State Hospital
36 years ago at age 65.
Several years ago, a bro-
ken bone threatened her
active lifestyle. As Denton
stepped out of her apart-
ment, she lost her balance
and found herself on the
ground with a injured elbow.
When she called for help, no
one heard, so she gathered
up her dangling arm and
went back inside. She dis-
missed the idea of an ambu-
lance and called a trans-
portation service instead.
As she waited for the car,
she raked the warm clothes
from the dryer into a laun-
dry basket because it needed
to be done.
“Now, I’m ready to go,”
she thought at the time.
During the days fol-
lowing her surgery, Den-
ton insists she experienced
absolutely no pain, some-
thing she attributes to God
and the fact that “every
church in town was praying
for me.”
For a long time, Denton
told no one at the athletic
club her age. “When people
asked, I said, ‘Put whatever
age you like on me. When I
get to be 100, you can throw
me a party.’”
“She said she thought
people would look at her
like a number rather than a
person,” said Smith. “She
held her ground.”
Denton promised Smith
she’d tell when she was about
to turn 100 so Smith could
make party preparations. In
October of 2017, invitations
went out. Circuit class mem-
bers prepared food.
On Oct. 9, the RAC
lobby morphed into party
central for Denton’s 100th
birthday bash. The guest
of honor wore a bright red
shirt that said “Team 100.”
She posed for photos with
Smith’s granddaughter, who
has the same birthday. The
toddler wore a shirt that
said “Team One.”
Club members, plus
friends and family from
all over, attended the party.
Denton weathered the fuss
with good cheer. She insisted
on no presents except for
donations to the Salvation
Army, whichtotaled several
hundred dollars.
Smith said people do
double-takes when they
learn Denton’s age.
“People don’t realize
how much older she really
is because she’s so sharp,”
Smith said. “She doesn’t
take meds, she still drives
her car … everyone thinks
she walks on water.”
Denton deflects such
praise with a wave of her
hand.
“I’m with young people
all the time. They tell me
I’m amazing,” she said. “I
tell them I’m not amazing,
God’s amazing.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0810.
Waste: Amount collected exceeded expectations
Continued from Page A1
and the county sent flyers
to churches, doctor’s offices
and pharmacies.
Arne’s Sewer & Septic
of Pendleton provided por-
table toilets and hand wash
stations, and the Pendleton
Country Club provided golf
carts for workers to zip from
one end of the event to the
other.
Miller said traditional
local media partners played
a significant role promoting
the event, but other media
also helped.
“One of our most effec-
tive advertising platforms
this year was embracing
media, social media,” Miller
said.
The effort also received
a $1,000 Wildhorse Founda-
tion Rapid Response Grant.
Miller said that money paid
for 1,000 refrigerator mag-
nets to promote the collec-
tion at farmers markets and
the county fair.
The county also used
the money to buy bright
green T-shirts for volun-
teers, including local FFA
youth, who directed traffic
at the event. Those T-shirts
helped volunteers stick out
for safety.
And Pendleton police
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dedicated an officer to
ensure the security of cer-
tain medications, such as
painkillers.
The locals bringing in
the waste never had to leave
their vehicles, she said,
because Clean Harbors did
that work. Clean Harbors
also had chemists on site to
test questionable material
for proper disposal.
County commissioners
John Shafer and Bill Elfer-
ing said the 12 tons of waste
was impressive. Eric Clan-
ton with the DEQ in Pend-
leton agreed. He is a natural
resource specialist and the
agency’s liaison to Umatilla
County.
“Pretty
much
rest
assured,” he told the board,
“going on from here we’re
going to use the model she
put together,” he said.
Miller also told the board
there will not be a waste
collection in 2019. She said
holding one every other year
works better.
Clanton after the meet-
ing said he is proposing the
DEQ have Miller talk to
other communities through-
out the state on her model
for holding waste collec-
tions. Miller created the
plan, he said, and should be
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WASHINGTON
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President Donald Trump
on Wednesday introduced
David Malpass, a Treasury
official he has nominated
to lead the World Bank, as
the “right person to take
on this incredibly import-
ant job.”
Malpass, who is now
Trump’s undersecretary
for international affairs at
the Treasury Department,
has been a critic of the
189-nation World Bank.
He has argued that the
bank, a lending institution
with a focus on emerging
countries, has concerned
itself too much with its
own expansion and not
enough with its core mis-
sions, like fighting poverty.
Malpass would succeed
Jim Yong Kim, who left in
January three years before
his term was to end.
Malpass, 62, made
clear Wednesday that his
focus at the World Bank
would include furthering
Trump’s agendas for devel-
oping countries.
One major initiative, he
said, would be to imple-
ment changes to the World
bank that he and Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin
helped negotiate. And in
a nod to the president’s
daughter and adviser,
Ivanka Trump, Malpass
said he would focus on
improving the status of
women.
“A key goal will be to
ensure that women achieve
full participation in devel-
oping economies,” Mal-
pass said.
Chief: He’d like to stay on
Continued from Page A1
recommended Pendleton
hire Berardi in an interim
capacity after it deter-
mined that late 2018 was
not the right time to hire
a permanent chief due to
several vacancies at other
departments.
Pendleton hasn’t had
a permanent fire chief
since April, when former
Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
abruptly retired.
Corbett and Ciraulo
declined to comment on
the circumstances behind
Ciraulo’s departure. But
performance evaluations
revealed conflict between
Ciraulo and Police Chief
Stuart Roberts, who super-
vises the fire chief position
as public safety director.
Assistant Fire Chief
Shawn Penninger filled in
as chief before Berardi’s
hire.
When the city does
fill the fire chief role
permanently, the new
hire will earn between
$86,676-$115,764.
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Trump introduces
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wants to see current cigarette
taxes dedicated to funding men-
tal health crisis centers around the
state. To that end, he has intro-
duced House Bill 2831.
Hayden, like Brown, said he
doesn’t think the tax increase
would get through the Legisla-
ture. If it were to be referred to the
ballot, Friend said he expects Big
Tobacco to spend up to $40 mil-
lion on a campaign against it.
House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, said the tobacco tax is
among the most uncertain of Med-
icaid funding sources. She said
lawmakers haven’t spent much
time on it, and it’s not clear how
much of a push there will be for
the tax later in the session.
For Rep. Mitch Greenlick,
D-Portland, combatting smok-
ing is a passion. Greenlick was
the director of the Kaiser Perma-
nente Center for Health Research
where he developed anti-smoking
packaging.
He said tying the tax to a Con-
stitutional amendment in 2007
hurt the proposed tax’s chances.
He said many lawmakers want the
money that would come from the
tax, so that gives it a decent shot.
“I think it’s feasible, I don’t
think it’s necessarily probable,” he
said. “I am more optimistic about
it now than I’ve ever been.”
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