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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 30, 2016 A9 Brown plans bill to maximize state investment returns By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau Eagle file photo Fifth-graders from Humbolt Elementary School observe an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist spray a mark on a chinook salmon at a science station in 2014. The agency, which has a biennial budget of about $370 million, is looking for more money for conservation programs, maintenance and outreach. Task force eyes tax hikes for fish and wildlife funding By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau A task force convened to find ways to raise revenue for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Monday will recommend two tax increases to add $86 million to the de- partment’s budget. The next challenge will be selling them to the Oregon Legislature. The agency, which has a bi- ennial budget of about $370 mil- lion, is looking for more money for conservation programs, maintenance and outreach. It gets about a third of its revenue from hunting and fishing license fees, and the remainder from state and federal sources. After evaluating dozens of options to raise revenue, the task force recommends an income tax surcharge and a surcharge on beverages at the wholesale level. Task force members ac- knowledged Monday that the roughly $86 million ask every biennium will be politically challenging. The state faces a $1.7 billion shortfall going into the next bi- ennium, according to the Gov- ernor’s Office. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is expected to release her bal- anced budget Thursday. The tax force’s recommen- dations will come in a legisla- tive session that will likely be characterized by attempts to both cut costs and raise funds across the board. Much of the discussion at Monday’s meeting revolved around gaining traction for the additional ask — both in terms of support from mem- bers of the legislature and from the state’s hunting, fish- ing, outdoor recreation and conservation communities. Many at Monday’s meeting pointed to the success of Mea- sure 99 — which passed at the ballot box earlier this month to allocate state lottery funding for outdoor education — as an example of an initiative that leveraged the support of those Oregonians who value outdoor recreation such as cycling or hiking, but don’t hunt or fish. Oregon State Rep. Ken Helm, a nonvoting member of the task force, advised the task force to meet with all members of the Legislature and to gain the support not only of conser- vation groups, but also of Ore- gon businesses. Task force members also met with Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, and Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, last week. Barnhart is chairman of the House Interim Revenue Com- mittee, while Witt is chairman of the House Interim Commit- tee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. According to task force members, Barnhart and Witt discouraged them from em- phasizing either tax and instead were advised to “lead with” the mission of ODFW and what it plans to do with the additional money. That money, according to task force recommendations, is to be allocated toward addition- al conservation activities, im- proved hunting and fishing op- portunities, increasing outreach and education efforts, and the cost of needed maintenance to department infrastructure that has been put off in prior budget years. The largest chunk of the approximately $86 million tar- get — about $46.7 million — would be dedicated to conser- vation efforts. SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown plans to advance a bill in the upcoming legislative session aimed at maximizing returns on the state’s investments, ac- cording to her office. The Oregon State Treasury over- sees the state’s investments, although it outsources some investment work to outside firms. It appears Brown would bring some of that work back to Salem to reduce costs. Kristen Grainger, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email Tuesday that the treasury “needs to be resourced adequately to expand the amount of funds they manage internally.” In previous legislative sessions, Treasurer Ted Wheeler — who will be replaced by state Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, come January — intro- duced similar legislation aimed at re- ducing the cost of investing by bringing more outsourced functions in-house. The gist of both proposals is that re- ducing costs could increase the state’s net returns. Wheeler’s effort, referred to as the EO Media Group Gov. Kate Brown’s office says she will propose legislation to maximize state investment returns, including reducing costs by ending the outsourcing of some investment management. Investment Modernization Act, stalled out several times after meeting opposi- tion from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who voiced trepidation about the proposal. Read, in an interview Tuesday, said that he would support the Governor’s Office in its efforts and emphasized communication with the public and the Oregon Legislature about the state’s in- vesting. “...I expect we will be supportive and helpful to the extent that we are asked, but I’m also cognizant of the fact that Treasurer Wheeler and the Treasury have made specific efforts a number of times,” Read said. Reducing investment costs might be one small way to address the $22 billion unfunded liability facing the state’s pub- lic employee retirement system. PERS is managed independently and has its own board, but the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund is managed by the treasurer, under the direction of the Oregon Investment Council, according to the treasury. The investment council is required by state law to get the highest possible return on its investments. In 2015, the Oregon Supreme Court struck down most of the legislature’s re- cent PERS reform efforts. A bipartisan legislative work group is now looking at other ways to address the PERS issue. The governor is expected to release her balanced budget Dec. 1. Audit plan excludes examinations of conflicts of interest By Paris Achen Capital Bureau A $1 million management audit of the Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation may not address how well the agency avoids conflicts of interest in awarding project contracts. Gov. Kate Brown ordered the audit at the request of state legislators who want to ensure ODOT is operating effective- ly before they approve costly transportation funding next year. That legislation — one of Brown’s priorities as gover- nor — could hike gas taxes and fees on drivers and funnel hundreds of millions of dol- lars in additional funding to the agency. Among lawmak- ers’ concerns were instances when ODOT hired or kept contractors who appeared to have conflicts of interest. While state officials who designed the scope of work for the audit included a ques- tion about how conflicts are identified, they did not ask for an assessment of how much weight ODOT employees give conflicts in the process of recommending contractors to the Oregon Transportation Commission, which officially hires the contractors. It’s unclear whether the omission was an oversight or was discussed and then reject- ed, said Bret West, acting chief administrative officer at the Department of Ad- ministrative Services. West, who has overseen the ODOT audit for the state since May, said he was not involved in shaping the original work plan for the audit. Other questions in the work plan dealing with communication processes EO Media Group Lawmakers have raised concerns about how ODOT handles conflicts of interests. and transparency may help to reveal whether there are prob- lems with conflicts of interest, West said. In September, the state awarded a nearly $1 million contract to New York-based McKinsey & Company to conduct the audit. Before McKinsey won the contract, state officials had hired John L. Craig, a former ODOT contractor, to perform the audit. Ironically, the state later revoked Craig’s con- tract after revelations about his close ties with ODOT and an unearthed email showing he had sought to replace the agency’s director, Matt Gar- rett. Addressing the weight ODOT gives conflicts in hir- ing contractors should have been part of the plan, said Mike Hollern, a member of an oversight committee that helped shape the audit’s scope of work. “In one of the early drafts, there was some discussion, and I think some of the con- cerns from some of the legis- lators perhaps had to do with conflicts of interest being a seriously-investigated, dealt- with issue,” said Hollern, who also is a former state transpor- tation commissioner. In another example of conflicts at ODOT, an agency trucking official Gregg Dal Ponte took a job with a firm that sells products to the in- dustry he regulates, according to a report in June by the Port- land Tribune. Dal Ponte headed the agency’s motor carrier divi- sion while working for a New Zealand corporation called ERoad. ODOT officials in- sisted the arrangement com- plied with state ethics law, but the practice has raised questions about the agency’s credibility, the Portland Tri- bune reported. Fares door to door 541-620-4255 Hrs. 24/7 Pick up and Delivery “Growing Pains” Round trip is from point A to point B, 5 min. stop or less. 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