NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
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Governor wants to divert
kicker from top earners
posing to limit refunds
at $1,000, which would
reduce expected payments
for approximately 20%
of all taxpayers. Brown
said it’s a way to provide
most Oregonians their full
refunds while retaining
$500 million in extra reve-
nue for the state.
Some Democrats have
long criticized kicker pay-
ments for disproportion-
ally favoring the wealthy.
Under this year’s historic
kicker, the median tax-
payer would be expected to
receive $330 dollars while
the top 1% of income earn-
ers could enjoy rebates up
to 40 times higher than that
— nearly $14,000.
Under Brown’s plan at
least $250 million of the
kicker funds would go to
help pay down the state’s
pension debt. The rest
would be dedicated to rural
housing and beefing up
broadband infrastructure
in more remote areas of the
state.
There’s still no formal
legislation for the proposal,
and Brown said she’s open
to changes. She also said
she’s met with Republican
leaders but didn’t specify
if they supported the move.
Republicans
have
Plan would divert
$500 million to
pay down PERS,
invest in housing
By SARAH
ZIMMERMAN
Associated Press
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown announced a plan
Thursday to limit Oregon’s
unique tax rebate known as
the kicker, saying she wants
to divert $500 million in
tax credits away from the
state’s top income earners
to pay down pension costs
and invest in rural housing.
“It’s fiscally responsi-
ble and makes common
sense,” the Democrat told
reporters. “Most Orego-
nians would get their full
kicker back.”
Excess revenue is auto-
matically returned to tax-
payers in the form of a tax
rebate whenever the state
takes in more revenue than
what state economists fore-
cast. Oregon’s facing a his-
toric year for state revenue,
and the so-called “kicker”
rebate is expected to be the
highest in state history at
$1.4 billion.
The governor is pro-
recoiled at any attempt to
cut the kicker, saying the
rebate is meant to be a safe-
guard against rampant gov-
ernment spending.
“Our state income tax
revenue is at an all-time
high,” said House Major-
ity Leader Carl Wilson, of
Grants Pass. “This is no
time to begin skimming off
money that hard-working
Oregonians have earned.”
Brown admitted that
diverting any amount of
the kicker is politically dif-
ficult, as it requires a two-
thirds vote from the House
and Senate.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek previously said that
there weren’t enough votes
to support using kicker
funds to pay down pension
debt. Kotek introduced her
own measure to divert half
the kicker toward transpor-
tation upgrades in Portland,
which was met with skepti-
cism from even the gover-
nor who said she wanted
any kicker funds to be used
to benefit the entire state.
The governor’s proposal
is meant to be a one-time
investment, and she said
that she wanted to publicly
release a plan to “stimulate
conversation” among law-
makers and the public.
Friday, May 31, 2019
New state librarian says she has
a lifelong love affair with libraries
Jennifer Patterson
started new job in
mid May
By MARK MILLER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Jennifer Pat-
terson loves libraries. She
always has, she says.
Now, she’s Oregon’s
state librarian — the per-
son in charge of supporting
every library in the state, as
well as managing the State
Library and helping legisla-
tors and state agencies with
research, reference mate-
rials and anything else a
library can provide.
“What I love about
libraries is that they pro-
vide access,” Patterson said.
“They’re all about provid-
ing access to everyone …
and to anyone who is inter-
ested in either the enter-
tainment value that libraries
can bring, the educational
impact they can bring, the
career opportunities that
libraries bring by providing
access to information and
resources.”
Officially, the only qual-
ification for the job is expe-
rience and training in the
library field. But in reality,
it’s a role that is hard to pre-
pare for.
If you go to the Salem
Portland Tribune Photo/Jaime Valdez
Jennifer Patterson, Oregon’s new state librarian, stands in
the stacks of the Oregon State Library.
Public Library, for instance,
you’ll find families check-
ing out books to read, older
students studying or spend-
ing time with friends, adults
using computers to apply for
jobs or housing, and more.
The
State
Library,
located across Court Street
from the Capitol, has little
of that activity. The stacks
are filled with congressional
reports, conference summa-
ries and other such tomes
— some of which date
back to the Revolutionary
War. There are conference
rooms, and a small library
with audiobooks and braille
books, which see some pub-
lic use. Patterson said she
works with state officials
and other libraries in a way
that she never has before.
BRIEFLY
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SATURDAY
A t-storm in spots
in the p.m.
SUNDAY
Partly sunny and
very warm
MONDAY
Very warm with
lots of sun
TUESDAY
Mostly sunny and
breezy
Partly sunny and
beautiful
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
85° 59°
87° 59°
88° 59°
82° 53°
83° 53°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
92° 63°
93° 62°
94° 62°
88° 57°
89° 57°
OREGON FORECAST
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
Olympia
64/52
80/52
90/58
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
86/63
Lewiston
76/51
93/62
Astoria
64/53
Pullman
Yakima 91/60
79/49
86/59
Portland
Hermiston
81/56
Salem
The Dalles 92/63
88/62
78/52
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
78/52
79/52
79/51
76/53
Ontario
84/58
Caldwell
Burns
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
85/57
0.00"
0.54"
1.09"
4.42"
4.96"
5.08"
WINDS (in mph)
81/55
74/49
Judge blocks earthquake
warning sign ordinance
PORTLAND (AP) — A judge has
blocked the city of Portland from enforc-
ing its earthquake warning sign ordinance
while a lawsuit over the policy plays out.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported
a judge had already issued a temporary
injunction prohibiting the city from enforc-
ing the rule, which requires the warning
signs on brittle brick buildings that are
especially vulnerable to earthquakes.
On Thursday he extended that injunction.
Owners of affected buildings had shown
they have a substantial likelihood of suc-
ceeding in their claim that the signs violate
their First Amendment right to free speech,
and that enforcing the ordinance in the
meantime would cause irreparable harm.
Oregon votes to ban
restaurants from offering
plastic straws
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Bend
83°
58°
76°
50°
102° (1983) 34° (1979)
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
Eugene
0.00"
1.52"
1.34"
9.28"
6.07"
6.45"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
85/59
79/50
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
Pendleton 74/49
80/52
Corvallis
77°
56°
74°
50°
102° (1931) 36° (1978)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
79/52
Aberdeen
83/58
88/62
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
79/55
“I’m still getting my
bearings,” Patterson said.
Gov.
Kate
Brown
appointed Patterson to
a position that had been
vacant for more than a year,
after MaryKay Dahlgreen
was fired in March 2018.
Patterson started May 13.
Patterson comes to Salem
after a career split between
Los Angeles, Colorado and
the Seattle area. She’s never
lived or worked in Oregon,
but she is familiar with the
state because her father and
stepmother moved to Port-
land when she was a preteen.
“I would come out every
summer,” Patterson said.
“Once I moved to the Seattle
area, I’d come down to Port-
land frequently for holidays
and family events.”
Today
Sat.
W 3-6
NNW 4-8
SW 4-8
WNW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
73/48
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:10 a.m.
8:36 p.m.
4:00 a.m.
5:41 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
June 3
June 9
June 17
June 25
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 101° in Maxton, N.C. Low 22° in Aspen Springs, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
SALEM (AP) — Oregon will ban
restaurants from automatically offering
single-use plastic straws under a measure
passed by lawmakers, making it the second
state to enact restrictions on plastic straws.
The House voted 48-12 late Wednes-
day to prohibit restaurants from provid-
ing single-use plastic straws unless a cus-
tomer asks. Drive-throughs could still offer
straws, as could health care facilities.
California previously passed limits on
plastic straws.
Gov. Kate Brown told reporters Thurs-
day the move is about raising public con-
sciousness of plastic’s effects on the envi-
ronment and is meant to encourage more
environmentally friendly lifestyle changes.
Oregon takes steps to curb
pot production
SALEM (AP) — Oregon is glutted with
so much legal weed that if growing were to
stop today, it could take more than six years
by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.
Five years after the state legalized recre-
ational marijuana, it is looking to curb pro-
duction. Lawmakers are moving to give the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission more
leeway to deny new marijuana-growing
licenses based on supply and demand.
The bill, which passed the Senate and is
now before the House, is aimed at reduc-
ing the huge surplus, preventing diversion
of unsold legal marijuana into the black
market. Supply is running twice as high as
demand.
1 dead in Troutdale crash
TROUTDALE (AP) — Authorities say
a head-on crash at 5 p.m. Wednesday in
Troutdale left one driver dead and another
seriously hurt.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office
said the driver of a Toyota that flipped onto
its roof was extricated by first responders
but died at the scene.
The driver of the other car, a Kia Soul,
was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Woman suing Skibowl for
$3.5M after tubing crash
PORTLAND (AP) — A woman who
claims she suffered major injuries while
sledding down a snow-covered slope on an
inner tube is suing Mt. Hood Skibowl for
nearly $3.5 million.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports
Heather Frost-Eisenberg says the resort
failed to create a large enough berm at the
bottom of the hill to stop her from careen-
ing over it, through a nylon fence and down
an 8-foot embankment onto a walkway
below.
Her lawsuit, filed last week in Mult-
nomah County Circuit Court, says she frac-
tured three vertebrae, ribs, an elbow, her
nose and some of her teeth at the resort on
Dec. 30, 2017. The suit also states she suf-
fered a traumatic brain injury and post-trau-
matic stress disorder.
Lane County homeless
increases nearly 32 percent
EUGENE (AP) — The latest count
shows a nearly 32% increase in the number
of homeless people in Lane County.
The Register-Guard reports that vol-
unteers found 2,165 people living on the
streets, in short-term housing and in emer-
gency shelter when they fanned across the
county in late January. That’s according to
the count released by Lane County Human
Services on Wednesday. Last year’s tally
found 1,641 people.
The count is the highest since 2011, the
earliest tally available. That year, volun-
teers found 2,111 people. Leaders in the
west-central Oregon County have devel-
oped a timeline to implement an aggressive
and costly roadmap, to help people sleeping
out on the streets in three-plus years.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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