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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
A6 State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Three-tiered minimum wage plan passes Grant County rate will increase to $12.50 by 2022 By Paris Achen Capital Bureau SALEM — A three-tiered minimum wage plan cleared its last hurdle Thursday when the House of Representatives approved the measure 32 to 26. Gov. Kate Brown said she plans to sign the bill. The Sen- ate approved the bill last week. “Today’s action advances one of my priorities for 2016: raise the minimum wage,” Brown said in a statement Thursday. The plan increases wages to $14.75 in the Portland metro area, $12.50 in rural and coast- al areas with struggling econo- mies, including Grant County, and $13.50 in the rest of the state by 2022. The ¿rst pay bump starts in July, from $9.25 to $9.75 statewide. Supporters of a ballot ini- tiative to raise wages to $15 Pamplin Media Group/Paris Achen Demonstrators chant for higher wages and rent control outside Gov. Kate Brown’s office during a floor debate on minimum wage in the House of Representatives. in the next three years said the legislative plan raises wages too slowly given skyrocketing costs. They have yet to decide whether to pursue placing the initiative on the 2016 ballot. They are continuing to gather signatures but plan to meet in the next couple of weeks to dis- cuss whether there is enough support and resources for the ballot measure to succeed, said Justin Norton-Kertson, cam- paign manager for Oregonians for $15 Now. 'uring more than ¿ve hours of debate Thursday, the House rejected proposals by Republicans to send the pro- posal to the ballot. “Let the 2.2 million voters decide what is best for Orego- nians and for themselves,” said Rep. Bill Kennemer, R-Ore- gon City. Lawmakers also rejected a proposal by Republicans to send the measure to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for a ¿scal analysis. The legislative ¿scal of¿ce has said the total cost of the bill to state government is in- determinate because the plan is phased-in and it’s unknown how many wages will be af- fected each year. “The decision by the major- ity party to bypass our budget committee in favor of an expe- dited approach to passing this bill is nearly unprecedented,” said Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep- pner. “We owe it to Oregonians to fully vet this proposal, ¿gure out what it is going to cost tax- payers and make sure we have a plan for addressing those costs.” Rep. Tobias Read, D-Bea- verton, said raising the wage also would save revenue be- cause fewer people would need public assistance. In rural areas, the minimum would increase to $12.50. Those areas include Mal- heur, Lake, Harney, Wheeler, Sherman, Gilliam, Wallowa, Grant, Jefferson, Baker, Union, Crook, Klamath, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Umatilla and Morrow counties. Amended energy bill lowers cost increase caps By Hillary Borrud Capital Bureau SALEM — A bill to dou- ble Oregon’s renewable en- ergy mandate is headed for a vote as soon as Wednesday in the state Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate. The Senate Committee on Business and Transportation voted 3-2 Monday afternoon to pass an amended version of the bill out of committee. Committee chair Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Spring¿eld, wrote the amendment in an attempt to address concerns that the bill, which was negotiated behind closed doors by the state’s two investor-owned utilities, environmental groups, the renewable energy industry and Citizens Utili- ty Board of Oregon, will be costly to consumers and busi- nesses. Beyer said the amendment strengthened the role of the Public Utility Commission, in response to criticism the earli- er version would have weak- ened commission oversight. Utilities objected to a pro- vision in the amendment that would lower the annual cost cap for the renewable energy mandate from 4 percent to 3 percent. The existing renew- able energy mandate allows utilities to ask the Public Util- ity Commission to approve rate increases based on costs incurred to meet the law. “I’m not sure why chang- ing it advances the policy now,” said Scott Bolton, a vice president at Paci¿Corp. Ry Schwark, a spokes- man for Paci¿Corp, said he expected the bill might still undergo changes. “Since this now will likely need to go to conference, much will depend upon what comes out the other end of that process,” Schwark wrote in an email. Beyer’s amendment also ex- panded the types of energy the utilities could use to meet the renewables mandate to include certain hydropower projects, biomass and power plants that burn municipal solid waste. Emails seem to contradict Oracle’s Cover Oregon claims By Nick Budnick Pamplin Media Group The words you are about to read are ones that Oracle has been ¿ghting to keep secret. The multinational soft- ware giant insists that it’s not to blame for the website ¿as- co turned national punchline known as Cover Oregon. However, a document re- viewed by Pamplin Media Group last week contains internal communications that seemingly contradict what Oracle has been telling politicians and the public, and suggest the company’s own employees felt Oracle did not give Oregon its money’s worth. The interof¿ce corre- spondence has never been disclosed publicly in the two years since the faulty health care exchange cost the state more than $300 million. In fact, the California-based contractor, with annual revenue of about $38 billion, is battling in court to keep its internal com- munications under wraps. Oracle repeatedly has blamed the failure of the Cov- er Oregon website project on state mismanagement and politics. It has found plenty of backing in thousands of docu- ments already released public- ly by the state of Oregon. The state, meanwhile, has argued that Oracle knew its work was faulty and kept vi- tal information from the state. What’s more, the state in court says it now has internal docu- ments that support that claim. But, because Oracle has desig- nated the documents as con¿- dential, the state has been un- able to share publicly what it calls proof of its claims. Last month the Oregon At- torney General’s Of¿ce submit- ted a 24-page brief in Marion County Circuit Court arguing that Oracle was wrongly clas- sifying its internal documents as con¿dential. The brief said several examples of Oracle’s internal correspondence are not trade secrets and should be disclosed. But, because the documents remain under seal, the passages are redacted — covered with a black bar. Last week, however, the Pamplin Media Group was able to review a version of the brief without the redactions. The passages include summaries (and a few selected quotes) of private exchanges between Or- acle employees. They reveal: Some of Oracle’s own em- ployees in reports and emails dissed the company’s work for Oregon, according to the brief. One company assessment in November 2013 found its soft- ware development “didn’t pass the ‘laugh test.’” In a Nov. 22, 2013, internal email that appears to contain two typos, one Oracle develop- er wrote that an “army” of pro- grammers for the company was “rapoing the state f Oregon on something that will never work well,” according to the brief. Yet another passage, from a March 16, 2012, internal email, suggests a company executive may have opposed the state’s plan to hire a prime contractor to oversee Oracle’s work out of a desire to preserve the company’s lucrative position as Cover Or- egon’s prime contractor. Oracle now, in contrast, says this lack of oversight is at the heart of the project’s problems. Concerns about the proj- ect prompted Oracle’s founder, billionaire Larry Ellison, to re- quest daily progress reports in a Nov. 16, 2013, email. Church Services In Grant County CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE Sunday School..............................9:30 am Sunday Worship Service .............. 10:45 am Sunday Evening Service................6:00 pm Children & Teen Activities SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO Weekdays: Sonshine Christian School 521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895 wwww.johndaynazarene.com
