State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
A7
Brown proposes cuts, tax hikes in new budget
Plan maintains
spending for
K-12, tuition
assistance
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown Thurs-
day proposed a 2017-19 bud-
get that cuts spending across
most areas in state govern-
ment, while keeping whole
K-12 education and programs
assisting low-income students
with college tuition.
The $20.8 billion budget
plan uses a potpourri of cuts
and tax increases to fi ll in
a $1.7 billion state revenue
hole, caused largely by in-
creases in negotiated salaries
and benefi ts and a loss of fed-
eral funding for subsidizing
health insurance for low-in-
come residents.
“I present this budget as a
short-term solution,” Brown
Pamplin Media Group
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released her 2017-
18 budget Thursday. Her plan generally cuts
government across the board in the wake of a $1.7
billion shortfall, but spares K-12 education and
tuition assistance for low-income college students.
said. “It is the starting place
for a broader conversation
about how best to align our
resources with our shared val-
ues and vision to move Ore-
gon forward.”
She unveiled her bud-
get proposal at an event
Dec. 1 in her ceremonial
Audit: Agencies still face
IT security vulnerabilities
office at the Capitol.
Brown proposed funding
to maintain existing services
at the K-12 level, while boost-
ing allocations for two college
tuition assistance programs —
the Oregon Opportunity Grant
and Oregon Promise.
Despite Brown’s claim that
Capital Bureau
Longstanding informa-
tion technology security
weaknesses continue at sev-
eral state government agen-
cies, according to a state au-
dit released Nov. 30.
The Secretary of State’s
Offi ce, after spending a year
auditing 13 state agencies
for information technology
security, warned in a report
that the failure of the state
to implement changes in-
creased the risk of a “security
incident.”
“Overall, planning efforts
were often perfunctory, se-
curity staffi ng was general-
ly insuffi cient, and critical
security functions were not
always performed,” the audit
states. “These weaknesses
collectively increase the risk
of a security incident at one
or more of the agencies.”
Citing the “sensitive na-
ture of security,” the offi ce
sent confi dential letters de-
tailing specifi c security con-
cerns to each agency, accord-
ing to the audit.
The 13 agencies selected
represent a cross-section of
state government, according
to the audit. They varied in
size and type and include
several agencies that main-
tain sensitive personal data,
such as the Oregon Health
Authority and the Oregon
State Police.
All of the agencies the au-
dit scrutinized fared poorly
when it came to managing
user accounts to ensure no
unauthorized users had access
to internal information, and
all agencies had issues with
“patching,” or fi xes to reme-
dy the vulnerability of oper-
ating systems and software to
viruses or hacking. Anti-virus
software was missing or out-
dated at some agencies.
The audit also found
weaknesses in security
awareness training and net-
work security.
Auditors also found that
the state’s Chief Information
Offi cer hasn’t given agen-
cies adequate standards and
oversight, and doesn’t have
processes in place to ensure
compliance with state stan-
dards and federal security
requirements.
Alex Pettit, the chief in-
formation offi cer, largely
agreed with the audit’s fi nd-
ings.
Pettit, in a letter released
with the audit Nov. 30, iden-
tifi ed some ways the offi ce is
trying to address the issues.
For example, it is continu-
ing to develop by mid-2017
a program to regularly scan
most agencies and to provide
new training on security is-
sues for state employees.
percent reductions in gener-
al fund revenue, said George
Naughton, chief fi nancial offi -
cer at the Department of Ad-
ministrative Services.
Agencies are charged with
fi nding specifi c reductions,
such as attrition of nonessen-
tial positions and reduction in
travel, Brown said.
Other cost-cutting mea-
sures call for closing the
state psychiatric hospital in
Junction City and the youth
correctional center in Clatsop
County, slashing funding to
a program that helps people
with developmental disabili-
ties and eliminating a program
for families with children who
have special needs.
Brown moderated the cuts
by proposing several increas-
es in targeted taxes and as-
sessments and closing two tax
loopholes. Those measures
bring in about $897 million in
new revenue.
The tobacco tax would in-
crease by 85 cents per pack
under her plan, and a liquor
surcharge would climb from
50 cents to $1 a bottle. The
plan also involves increasing
assessments on hospitals and
insurers to the tune of $530
million.
Not enough tax revenue
Republican House Leader
Mike McLane of Powell Butte
said the state continues on “an
unsustainable fi scal path.”
“Despite record revenues
and despite what has been
described as a roaring state
economy, we are being told
we don’t have enough tax rev-
enue to cover the tab,” Mc-
Lane said.
He said lawmakers need to
reduce spending before ask-
ing for more taxes.
Much of the state’s short-
fall stems from reductions in
federal funds for the Afford-
able Care Act and the unfund-
ed liability of the Public Em-
ployees Retirement System.
And the business com-
munity has signaled it wants
PERS reforms before accept-
ing any new business taxes.
Pot testing poses regulatory quandaries
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Bureau
By Claire Withycombe
the plan would maintain K-12
funding, the Oregon School
Boards Association issued a
statement saying the proposal
falls short by about $500 mil-
lion “of what schools are tell-
ing us they need just to main-
tain current services.”
The budget for higher edu-
cation will remain fl at despite
increases in costs for existing
services, which could mean
colleges and universities will
have to consider program
cuts or tuition hikes. Brown’s
budget plan also preserves the
number of clients who receive
subsidies for health insurance
under the Affordable Care
Act.
Proposed cuts are less se-
vere than the 10 to 15 percent
across-the-board reductions
Brown had predicted before
the Nov. 8 election. State
agencies face cuts averaging
4.2 percent, but the cuts vary
according to the agency.
Education at the K-12 lev-
el faces no cuts, while health
care could sustain 16 to 25
Marijuana testing is cre-
ating several quandaries for
Oregon regulators at a time
of overall uncertainty for the
newly legalized crop, accord-
ing to a state offi cial.
Testing for pesticides pos-
es one challenge, as the nec-
essary instrumentation is ex-
pensive and complicated, said
Jeff Rhoades, senior adviser
on marijuana policy for Gov.
Kate Brown.
While state regulators want
to protect public health, testing
is a large barrier to entry into
the legal recreational marijua-
na market, he said during the
Oregon Board of Agriculture
meeting in Wilsonville Nov.
30.
An overly strict testing re-
gime would be a disadvantage
to small growers while favor-
ing large out-of-state compa-
nies, Rhoades said.
“It’s a very delicate balance
with testing here,” he said.
One pesticide that’s com-
monly used on grapes, for
example, breaks down into
hydrogen cyanide when set
afl ame, he said.
Meanwhile, marijuana is
sold not just as a fl ower, but
also in the form of various
tinctures and extracts that re-
quire specifi c testing methods,
Rhoades said.
“It can’t be just a one-size-
fi ts-all approach,” he said.
There are also no federally
approved pesticides that are
specifi c to the psychoactive
crop, Rhoades said.
Oregon has 18 laboratories
accredited to test marijuana,
but just four are able to test for
pesticides.
Other marijuana traits that
are tested for include micro-
bial contamination, solvents
and potency. Potency testing
has also encountered problems
since it became mandatory on
Oct. 1, said Rhoades. Mari-
juana growers were receiving
greatly variable results from
different labs, and so were
fl ocking to those providing
the highest potency ratings, he
said.
“Lab shopping was hap-
pening all over the place,” he
said.
Regulators are now trying
to create a standardized testing
protocol for potency so grow-
ers can expect uniform results,
Rhoades said.
Taxes from marijuana sales
in Oregon are expected to be a
boon to state coffers, but fi rst
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission must be repaid
for its extensive work in creat-
ing a regulatory system for the
crop, he said.
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture has also been
heavily involved in regulations
involving pesticides, food
safety and accurate scale sys-
tems, Rhoades said.
Exactly how the agency will
harvest again.
Don’t let knee or hip pain keep you from doing what you love.
StCharlesHealthCare.org/Mako
be repaid for these efforts is
currently unclear, though the is-
sue is being discussed and will
likely surface during the 2017
legislative session, he said.
Marijuana remains illegal
under federal law, which has
made banks leery of dealing
with marijuana companies —
a complication that raises ad-
ditional issues, Rhoades said.
“It’s an all-cash business at
this point, which creates public
safety concerns and tax collec-
tion concerns,” he said.
Regulators in Oregon and
the seven other states where
recreational marijuana is now
legal were hoping for clarity
from the federal government
that would enable more bank-
ing involvement, he said.
Let our family of Pharmacists
serve you!
Give us a call today
541-676-9158 - Heppner
541-384-2801 - Condon
We welcome the opportunity to visit with
you about our services!
Heppner & & Condon
Heppner
Condon