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Region & State By +LOOary BRrrXG Capital Bureau Christmas Lighting Contest The City of Mt. Vernon will be sponsoring a Christmas Lighting Contest There will be two categories open within only the City limits of Mt. Vernon: • Business – 1 st place $100/2nd place $50 • Residential – 1 st place $100/2nd place $50 Judging will occur the evening of Tuesday, December 22 and winners will be announced Wednesday, December 23 at 9am. Pick up application forms at Mt. Vernon City Hall 199 W. Main St. Applications must be returned to Mt. Vernon City Hall by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 22. Use of 2.5 million acres in central and southern Malheur County in question By Larry Meyer Argus Observer Area in detail VALE — It’s full steam ahead for the committee opposing a wilderness or monument designation in Malheur County. Malheur County Court members voted Wednesday to direct the Task Force in Opposition to the Wilder- ness/Monument Proposal of the Owyhee Canyonlands Coalition to continue its work fighting both designa- tions. The court also agreed to move ahead with an adviso- ry vote on the wilderness/ monument proposal tenta- tively planned for March 8. The filing deadline is Dec. 9. The task force, chaired by County Commissioner Larry Wilson, has been busy gathering signatures on pe- titions in opposition, getting letters of support from oth- er counties in Oregon, plus letters from cities and busi- nesses. Wilson said 18 counties are supporting Malheur County’s position. Task force members are seeking face-to-face meet- ings with the secretary of interior, both Oregon U.S. senators and the White House before a monument decision is made. John Blake, task force co-chairman, said he has not been able to set up a meet- ing with either senator. Ore. BAKER 26 Proposed national Ontario conservation area Nyssa 20 Jordan Valley Burns Junction Idaho Ore. SALEM — Oregon econ- omists painted a rosy picture for the state’s revenues and economy over the next two years, during a forecast Wednesday morning. Economists said they expect the economy will continue at “full throttle” for another year or two, as the post-recession recovery continues. “For the last couple years, we have been becom- ing more optimistic about the (2015-2017) bienni- um,” state economist Mark McMullen said Wednesday morning. Oregon’s economists ex- pect the state will receive $56 million more in general fund and lottery revenues in the current biennium than they had projected in the summer, when lawmakers were drafting the budget. The latest forecast is for $19.5 billion in total state revenues. McMullen said the strong revenue forecast for the current two-year bud- get meant lawmakers would not have to adjust their rev- enue expectations at this point. “I wish the same could be said on the spending side,” McMullen said. “This report is not full of surprises, which generally means we like it,” said state Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eu- gene, chair of the House Interim Committee on Rev- enue. Lawmakers on the state House and Senate rev- enue committees held a joint meeting to hear the econom- ic and revenue forecasts and other reports. It could still take another year for the number of jobs in Oregon to catch up to the number of workers, said senior economist Josh Leh- ner. Lehner and McMullen said the lack of affordable housing — particularly in the Portland metropolitan area, Hood River and Bend — and weakness in the man- ufacturing sector could be signals of future problems for the state’s economy. Lehner said housing af- fordability is now a problem “for people up and down the spectrum.” Lawmakers and the state economists spent little time discussing the less rosy out- look beyond the current two year budget. In 2017 through 2019, economist projected that general fund and lottery revenues could decrease by $47.5 million. Gov. Kate Brown said in a press release that she will continue to monitor the rev- enue outlook. 7aVN IRrFe ¿ JKWLQJ WR SreYeQW 2ZyKee &aQyRQ ZLOGerQeVV PRQXPeQW GeVLJQaWLRQ 95 Ore. McDermitt Nev. N 95 20 miles Alan Kenaga/Capital Press “We need to get anyone and everyone involved (in the opposition),” Commis- sioner Don Hodge said. “It’s a big deal.” While a wilderness area has to be created by Con- gress, a monument can be declared by the president under the Antiquities Act. Oregon Natural Desert Association, which is part of the Owyhee Canyon Coalition, is proposing a national conservation area of about 2.5 million acres, most to become a wilder- ness area in central and By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Michael B. DesJardin Dentistry, PC Preventive, Restorative & Endodontics New Patients Welcome! 208 NW Canton John Day 541-575-2725 mbddental@live.com michaelbdesjardindmd.com Wood Stove Bricks or Pellets to keep you and your family cozy this winter Strawberry Mountain Premium Wood Pellets Local Distributors JD Rents 727 W. Main John Day 541-575-1156 Pioneer Feed 831 W Hwy 26 John Day 541-575-0023 Buy by the Bundle, or pallet Manufactured by Malheur Lumber Company southern Malheur County. Other members of the coalition are seeking a mon- ument designation for the area. “This proposal for a monument/wilderness area is a gross overreach and misuse of existing laws and policies, which we can- not influence very effec- tively,” task force member Andy Bentz said. “If made a monument or wilderness area, the health of the land will suffer greatly due to the progress just started on addressing the invasive species (being) stopped or made cost-prohibitive.” He said a monument or wilderness area this size will greatly impact the eco- nomic future of local in- dustries, tribes, businesses, disabled veterans, senior citizens, communities and schools. ONDA and other coali- tion members maintain that local industries, particularly ranching, will not be affect- ed by wilderness or mon- ument designations. They also say that the area be- longs to everyone, not just the residents of Malheur County. Bentz addressed the lat- ter issue before the County Court. “Those of us that live in the environment and open space of southeast Oregon share the belief that it is not land just to visit on vaca- tion,” Bentz said. “For all of us, it represents our culture, our customs. It’s spiritual, it’s our economics, it’s our livelihood, it’s our home, while others see this land as only a place to occasionally recreate.” The recreation that oc- curs in the canyonlands does not have the econom- ic benefit that supporters of a monument or wilder- ness keep promising, Bentz said. The County Court had three options Wednesday, including urging the com- mittee to keep fighting the designation. The other op- tions included doing noth- ing or having the task force set up a meeting with the members of the Owyhee Canyonlands Coalition. The third option was not a negotiation but a listening meeting, Bentz explained. The County Court will send a letter to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, and U.S. Ron Wyden, D-Or- egon, covering many of the same points that Bentz gave and urging the lawmakers to support language approved by the U.S. House in July prohibiting funds for a na- tional monument declara- tion through the end of the fiscal year. That language was in- cluded in an appropria- tions bill in the House. The court is requesting the sen- ators support its inclusion in a Senate appropriations bill. Legislator proposes regional minimum wage 02942 State forecast paints rosy picture of revenues Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Ore. Idaho Blue Mountain Eagle O A10 SALEM — Spurred by two ballot initiatives to raise Oregon’s minimum wage, a Portland lawmaker plans to propose legislation in Febru- ary that would set different regional minimum wage rates based on cost of living and median income. Sen. Michael Dembrow, who chairs the Senate work- force committee, said a leg- islative agreement could help avert an acrimonious and pro- longed battle over minimum wage at the ballot box. “Our hope is if we can pass it in February, that the campaigns will stop collect- ing signatures, and they’ll feel comfortable with it,” Dem- brow said. A legislative work group began at the end of last ses- sion looking at some of the issues to consider in setting a minimum wage. “What became clear from that was we needed to do something that is not one- size-¿ ts-all,” Dembrow said. “We needed to take into ac- count cost of living and eco- nomic vitality in different parts of the state.” Dembrow said he envi- sions setting three regional minimum wage rates — with the highest rate in the Portland metro area and the lowest in rural areas. The rates would be phased in during a three- to four-year period, he said. “Our goal here is to get the wage where families can make it without relying on public assistance,” he said. Senate workforce commit- tee members have yet to settle on exact numbers but hope to have those details ready in time for a public hearing Jan. 14. The regionally tiered min- imum wage would address the need for higher incomes in Portland, where housing costs are skyrocketing, with- out crippling businesses in slower economic areas such as the southern coast, Dem- brow said. One ballot initiative un- derway proposes hiking the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2019. Another ini- tiative by a union-led coalition seeks to boost minimum wage to $13.50 and give cities the authority to hike wages be- yond that. Dembrow’s legislation would not repeal state pre- emption on wage hikes, which prohibits municipalities from increasing minimum wage. Giving cities the authority to independently hike wages can be problematic, Dembrow said. “If Portland does raise the minimum wage, and Beaver- ton doesn’t, there is a concern a lot of businesses would re- locate,” Dembrow said. “We have had a lot of experience with the state setting its own minimum wage but haven’t had a lot of experience with cities doing it. That is a rela- tively new phenomenon.” In the past two years, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco and Los Ange- les have taken action to grad- ually raise minimum wage to $15.