Th e Bu l l eTin • Fr iday, FeBr ua r y 26, 2021 A5
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Legislators shouldn’t
make the call on the
kicker; voters should
I
t happened fast. Almost as soon as it was announced that
state revenues were up and might trigger a $570 million
kicker tax rebate, there were calls to suspend the taxpayer
rebates or do away with the kicker.
Oregon has made policy innova-
tions that most people look on with
pride — the Bottle Bill and vote by
mail are two. Then there’s the kicker:
beloved by some, despised by others
and politically prickly.
The kicker is unique to Oregon.
It requires the return of income tax
surpluses to taxpayers in two-year
state budgets where actual collec-
tions exceed forecasted revenues
by 2% or more. In other words, if
more money comes in than the state
guesses, it might have to send the
money back to taxpayers.
Forecasting state revenue is inexact.
And so the kicker kicks. The state’s
Legislative Fiscal Office said last year
that about $5.1 billion in personal in-
come taxes and half a billion dollars in
corporate taxes have been returned to
taxpayers over the kicker’s history.
Perhaps nobody criticizes the law
more crisply than the Oregon Cen-
ter for Public Policy. It says:
1) It’s wrong that Oregonians
should expect state government to
be able to guess accurately or within
2% how much revenue the state
will have. When the kicker kicks, it
doesn’t mean Oregonians have over-
paid taxes. The state guessed wrong
making a difficult guess.
2) The kicker makes it more chal-
lenging for the state to build up
reserves.
Some people want the Legislature
to suspend the kicker, if it indeed
kicks. Legislators can vote to
do so with a two-thirds vote.
That’s difficult to do politically.
Oregonians have shown a
willingness to support some
statewide tax increases. But it
was also voters who approved
the kicker tax rebate.
3) And it says the kicker can bene-
fit the rich more.
Some people want the Legislature
to suspend the kicker, if it indeed
kicks. Legislators can vote to do so
with a two-thirds vote. That’s dif-
ficult to do politically. Oregonians
have shown a willingness to support
some statewide tax increases. But it
was also voters who approved the
kicker tax rebate.
The kicker serves as an awkward,
imperfect check on the increase in
state government spending. If legis-
lators want the kicker money, they
should put the decision in front of
voters to end the kicker. Too many
families have struggled during the
pandemic to suspend it.
Is Bend going to get a
good deal on lawsuits?
S
omething relatively unusual
happened at the last Bend City
Council meeting. Councilor
Anthony Broadman voted against
the proposed legal settlements in
two cases.
It’s not unheard of for council-
ors to disagree. This got our atten-
tion because it’s on a sensitive issue:
condemnation lawsuits. The discus-
sion about the settlements was in ex-
ecutive session. And there was also
no explanation during the meeting
of why Broadman voted “no.”
Condemnation is when the gov-
ernment can take the public’s land
for a public purpose. Under the U.S.
Constitution there must be just com-
pensation. But when the govern-
ment can take public land and what
is just compensation get debated.
For instance, people can have wildly
different appraisal of land value.
The explanation during the open
session was that the city is engaged
in two condemnation lawsuits to
acquire easements for the north in-
terceptor sewer project. Councilor
Barb Campbell moved to authorize
the city manager to settle the law-
suits on the terms discussed in exec-
utive session. Councilors approved
that motion. Broadman voted
against it.
We asked him in an email after
the meeting why he did. Broadman
wrote: “I didn’t agree with the terms
of the proposed settlements in these
cases. That said, it was the decision
of Council and therefore I support
it. I’ll keep working to make sure
we get the best deal for taxpayers in
these and other transactions.”
Is there something wrong with the
city’s proposed settlements? Broad-
man believes so, and he is an attor-
ney. How wrong? He didn’t say.
It does raise the question, though,
if councilors are being careful
enough when spending taxpayer
money when people can’t see what
they are doing. From his response,
at least, Broadman didn’t seem to
signal the city was making a terri-
ble mistake — in his opinion. Just a
mistake.
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor
Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
My hero of Black History Month
BY MICHAEL PRITCHARD
T
his month is Black History
Month. I’ve been listening to
different people on TV talking
about their Black hero. The most fre-
quently mentioned are famous and
familiar names, all worthy: MLK,
Harriet Tubman, Medgar Evers, Rosa
Parks, Elijah Cummings, the late John
Lewis and either Obama. My Black
hero is an unknown man.
My mother, who came from a fairly
conservative Italian family in Boston,
was a bit of a radical activist house-
wife. She raised us to see every human
being — gay, straight, liberal, conser-
vative, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native
American — as equals and, as such,
deserving of the same rights and op-
portunities we as heterosexual whites
enjoyed.
Later in life, I wondered how she
evolved to this position, bringing us
to protest marches on just about every
social issue there was.
Growing up, I naively believed that
is how the world was since the people
we socialized with shared the same
beliefs.
The year was 1964, and we were at-
tending a rally for President Lyndon
B. Johnson. We arrived early at Union
Plaza in San Francisco so we could
be in the front. My mother’s goal was
to let LBJ know that she supported
his efforts for civil rights. Say what
you will about President Johnson but,
other than Abraham Lincoln and not
Donald Trump, no other president
did as much for the rights of Blacks,
GUEST COLUMN
When we cleared the crowd,
the tall man put me down. My
mother, still in tears, thanked
him for putting his life in danger
to save me. I didn’t realize at the
time what she was talking about.
To me, he was an adult saving a
kid, which is what adults do. To
the world, he was a black man in
the 1960s pushing a white cop. I
later learned watching TV that
in the southern states, there had
been beatings and lynchings for
much less.
doing so at great risk to himself and
the Democratic Party.
Just before the president arrived,
the police formed a line around the
stage. As the president exited the car,
the police locked arms, forming a
human chain. When the president
stepped up to the podium, the crowd
surged forward. My neck was at the
height of the locked arms, and I was
being strangled.
My mother was in a panic trying to
push the police backwards while pull-
ing me away, but she was unable to.
My mother started yelling at the cop
to help.
The officer shrugged his shoul-
ders and said he could not break the
arm lock, that the president’s safety
had priority. I remember gagging and
struggling for breath.
As I was passing out, I saw the of-
ficer knocked backwards. I was sud-
denly lifted high off the ground and
placed on the shoulders of someone
who was carrying me away from
crowd, my mother running behind
and crying, repeating “thank you,
thank you for saving my baby.” I re-
member thinking: “I am not a baby;
I’m 8.”
When we cleared the crowd, the tall
man put me down. My mother, still in
tears, thanked him for putting his life
in danger to save me. I didn’t realize at
the time what she was talking about.
To me, he was an adult saving a kid,
which is what adults do. To the world,
he was a Black man in the 1960s
pushing a white cop. I later learned
watching TV that in the Southern
states, there had been beatings and
lynchings for much less.
Without this man, I wouldn’t have
enjoyed the life I’ve been fortune
enough to experience with all of the
privileges a white kid possesses. I’ll
never know why this total stranger
saved a young white boy putting him-
self at risk unless, like my family, he
didn’t see us as different races, but
members of the same race: the human
race.
e e
Michael Pritchard lives in Bend.
Letters policy
Guest columns
How to submit
We welcome your letters. Letters should
be limited to one issue, contain no more
than 250 words and include the writer’s
signature, phone number and address
for verification. We edit letters for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons. We re-
ject poetry, personal attacks, form letters,
letters submitted elsewhere and those
appropriate for other sections of The Bul-
letin. Writers are limited to one letter or
guest column every 30 days.
Your submissions should be between
550 and 650 words; they must be signed;
and they must include the writer’s phone
number and address for verification. We
edit submissions for brevity, grammar,
taste and legal reasons. We reject those
submitted elsewhere. Locally submitted
columns alternate with national colum-
nists and commentaries. Writers are lim-
ited to one letter or guest column every
30 days.
Please address your submission to either
My Nickel’s Worth or Guest Column and
mail, fax or email it to The Bulletin. Email
submissions are preferred.
Email: letters@bendbulletin.com
Write: My Nickel’s Worth/Guest Column
P.O. Box 6020
Bend, OR 97708
Fax:
541-385-5804
DMD Act offers solutions for access to dental care for Oregonians
BY BRAD HESTER
A
t the core of dentistry is a desire
to take care of people — a role
that has become all the more
important during the pandemic. We
know that access to dental care reduces
the number of people who may oth-
erwise seek treatment in emergency
rooms and urgent care facilities, freeing
our overburdened hospitals to focus on
treating COVID-19 and saving lives.
Over the past year, Oregon dentists
have embraced new ways of connect-
ing with patients to ensure access to
care, including through teledentistry,
and new ways of supporting the state,
such as by donating vast amounts of
personal protective equipment to pro-
tect front-line health care workers.
Gov. Kate Brown noted in a March
2020 press release that dentists led ef-
forts to gather and donate their prac-
tices’ masks, gloves and face shields
for hospital workers and emergency
responders across the state.
Dentists have also been helping to
administer the lifesaving COVID-19
vaccine in Oregon, thanks to legisla-
tion the Oregon Dental Association
spearheaded in partnership with Or-
egon Health and Science University
in 2019.
But while we have expanded our
abilities to meet Oregonians’ needs
in this challenging time, there’s
much more to be done.
At a time when access to health
care is more critical than ever, our
state suffered funding cuts to Med-
icaid dental benefits, a crucial safety
net for vulnerable Oregonians. With
limited resources, our state leaders
must now focus on proven solutions
providing Oregonians with equita-
ble, high-quality care, such as inte-
grated and school-based services,
and support health care providers
who accept Medicaid patients or
GUEST COLUMN
operate in remote,
rural and other un-
derserved commu-
nities.
That’s why Or-
egon dentists and
our partners are
Hester
supporting compre-
hensive legislation
in 2021 that will be-
gin to address these challenges while
laying the foundation for stronger,
more efficient and equitable care for
decades to come.
The bipartisan Dental Manage-
ment and Delivery Act, or DMD
Act, would expand Oregon’s Cover
All Kids program, adding dental
benefits to free health coverage for
many children in the state. It would
also continue removing obstacles to
make access to care more convenient
for Oregonians, offering additional
support to make sure dentists can af-
ford to operate in remote areas and
treat as many Medicaid patients as
possible. And it would initiate an
analysis of Oregon’s Medicaid reim-
bursement system, helping future
legislators understand some of the
biggest obstacles to ensuring Medic-
aid-eligible Oregonians receive regu-
lar dental care.
Underlying all of these initiatives
is a focus on health equity.
Health equity, according to the In-
stitute of Medicine, means providing
care that “does not vary in quality
because of personal characteristics
such as gender, ethnicity, geographic
location, and socioeconomic sta-
tus.” This means programs targeting
health equity should not simply fo-
cus on access to care, but must also
ensure equity in the quality of that
care for all Oregonians, including
Black, Indigenous, people of color
and rural communities.
Oregon dentists support the Tribal
Scholarship for Equity in Dental and
Medical Education as a step toward
achieving this goal.
This bill would help members of
Oregon tribes attend OHSU tuition-
free and join the next generation of
dentists and medical doctors in our
state.
Legislators have an opportunity to
create a new, stronger foundation for
dental care by supporting the DMD
Act in the 2021 session. Together,
we’re making great strides in unprec-
edented times, and together we can
ensure all Oregonians have access to
equitable health care when they need
it most.
e e
Dr. Brad Hester, DMD, is president of the Oregon
Dental Association and practices family dentistry
in Bend.