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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 8, 2020 $24 billion PERS liability will make recovery harder O regonians don’t need reminding how much worse slipping into a recession can be when they are loaded up with debt. It’s a bad combination we wouldn’t wish on anybody. But Oregon’s state govern- ment has brought just that sort of combination on to the state’s taxpayers because of the state’s $24 billion Public Employees Retirement System debt. The COVID-19 pandemic is not something legislators or Gov. Kate Brown anticipated. They can hardly be blamed for that. When they are mak- ing the difficult choices to cope with COVID-19, though, those choices will be tougher because of that $24 billion hanging over the state. Let’s be clear. PERS does provide a valuable service to the state. Since 1945, it’s been providing retirement benefits to state workers. They deserve good retirement benefits. Con- trary to what you might have heard, the average annual ben- efit is about $31,000 a year, and most beneficiaries receive $3,000 a month or less. Yes, there are some crazy payouts of more than $9,000 a month to some recipients — about 1,600 people. And we’d also rather see pension benefits work more like a 401(k) than some parts of the state retirement system. The $24 billion debt isn’t exactly like a credit card debt. It’s the money the state will have to have to meet its pen- sion obligations in the future that it doesn’t anticipate having. That unfunded liability is covered in two ways, essen- tially. The first are payments from employers with PERS employees. For instance, most local school districts make payments to cover the PERS benefits of their employees. Employers are are contribut- ing sizable portions of their payroll. That’s a big chunk of money, and it may well get big- ger. That’s because the other way that unfunded liability is covered is from the perfor- mance of state investments. Investment returns provide about 75% of the money to pay PERS benefits. What just hap- pened to the stock market? It plummeted. The PERS board had assumed the rate of return on its investments would be 7.2%. Will the market come rush- ing back up? Let’s hope so. Because if investment returns are low, that $24 billion unfunded future liability will grow. School districts, local governments and state govern- ments will have to pay even higher percentages of pay- roll just to cover PERS ben- efits. And that will mean less money for school supplies and computers, less money to pave roads and less money to pay state expenses from the COVID-19 pandemic. The PERS reforms passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Brown in 2019 were a step in the right direc- tion. Those reforms, though, achieved most of their savings by putting off when the PERS debt would be paid. How bad do things have to get before legislators do more to address the PERS debt? To put the state on better finan- cial footing to handle a crisis? We know Gov. Brown and law- makers have a more immediate emergency to deal with now. That $24 billion just makes it harder. GUEST COMMENT Economic stimulus information for small businesses A ll small business own- ers to some degree (many severely) are being neg- atively affected by the over- night economic shutdown due to the COVID-19 virus. Fortu- nately, there are programs to assist small business owners and their employees. Information regarding these programs has been changing fre- quently. The two main stimulus programs are the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and the Paycheck Protection Program, which is part of the recently passed $2 trillion CARES Act. The following infor- mation came from the Small Busi- ness Administration. Economic Injury Disaster Loan • The EIDL now offers up to a $10,000 grant (loan advance), which does not need to be repaid if the money is spent on paid leave, maintaining pay- roll, increased costs due to sup- ply chain disruption, mortgage or lease payments or repaying obli- gations that cannot be met due to revenue losses. The website to directly apply is: covid19relief. sba.gov/#/ • Important: The grant is a new aspect of the EIDL loan, so if you applied prior to the grant being offered, you must reapply to request consideration for the grant at the website listed above. • Funds for the loan advance will be made within three days of a successful application and will not have to be repaid. • The interest rate for the remainder of the loan awarded is 3.75%. • Businesses can get both an EIDL loan and Paycheck Protec- tion Program loan as long as they don’t pay the same expenses. Be sure to check with your financial required for the loan. The lenders are expected to defer fees, prin- cipal and interest for no less than six months and no more than one year. Can these loans be forgiven? Yes, small businesses that take out these loans can get some or all of their loans forgiven. Generally speaking, as long as employers con- tinue paying employees at normal levels during the eight weeks fol- lowing the origination of the loan, then the amount they spent on pay- roll costs (excluding costs for any compensation above $100,000 annually), mortgage interest, rent payments and utility payments can be combined and that portion of the loan will be forgiven. Small business owners can apply right now for the EIDL loan, but as of this date, the CARES Act is still being enacted and isn’t available right now—but will be soon. adviser or lender before taking both loans if you are not sure of the specifics. Greg Smith Paycheck Protection Program How does the program work? Currently, the SBA guaran- tees small business loans that are given out by a network of more than 800 lenders across the U.S. The Paycheck Protection Program creates a type of emergency loan that can be forgiven when used to maintain payroll through June and expands the network beyond SBA so that more banks, credit unions and lenders can issue those loans. The basic purpose is to incentiv- ize small businesses to not lay off workers and to rehire laid- off workers that lost jobs due to COVID-19 disruptions. What types of businesses are eligible? The Paycheck Protection Pro- gram offers loans for small busi- nesses with fewer than 500 employees, select types of busi- nesses with fewer than 1,500 employees, 501©(3) non-profits with fewer than 500 workers and some 501©(19) veteran organiza- tions. Additionally, the self-em- ployed, sole proprietors and free- lance and gig economy workers are also eligible to apply. Busi- nesses, even without a personal guarantee or collateral, can get a loan as long as they were opera- tional on Feb. 15. How big of a loan can I get and what are the terms? The maximum loan amount under the Paycheck Protection Act is $10 million, with an inter- est rate no higher than 4%. No personal guarantee or collateral is One-time $500 grant for restaurant workers This grant application opens April 2 and funds will be adminis- tered on a first-come, first-served basis. To apply and for more information visit: https://rerf.us/ Please reach out to us if we can assist you in any way. As men- tioned above, the CARES Act is still being enacted and both pro- grams are evolving, but we will do our best to keep business owners informed of the latest information. We are actively working with our partners at Business Ore- gon, the SBA, lenders, chambers of commerce and other business organizations. We can be reached by calling 541-962-1532 or email- ing eousbdc@gmail.com. Greg Smith is the Eastern Ore- gon University Small Business Development Center director. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ‘Lady Liberty is blindfolded for a reason’ WHERE TO WRITE GRANT COUNTY • Grant County Courthouse — 201 S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248. • Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@ centurylink.net. • Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541- 987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net • John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@ centurytel.net. • Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@ cityoflongcreek.com. • Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument 97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net. • Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ ortelco.net. • Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net. • Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com. SALEM • Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378- 3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: governor.state.or.us/governor.html. • Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised Statutes). • Oregon Legislative Information — (For updates on bills, services, capitol or messages for legislators) — 800- 332-2313. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by To the Editor: It appears that my previous let- ter to the editor submitted in March struck a nerve with Sheriff Palmer. I was advised that he authored a long, rambling diatribe on his per- sonal Facebook page defending his naming of additional “special deputies.” In reading the post by Sheriff Palmer, two things became abundantly clear. One, Sher- iff Palmer clearly does not proof read his musings before hitting send. Two, and of much more con- sequence, is that he stated in his Facebook post that he named two current county commissioners, Sam Palmer and Jim Hamsher, to be “special deputies” for the sher- iff’s office. It might be understand- able that Sheriff Palmer would not see this obvious conflict of inter- est, but I would like to think that the commissioners, who oversee a large county budget, would have enough common sense to realize this fact and decline. The duties of the commission- ers include budgetary oversight of all county agencies, including Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com Reporter ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com Reporter ...................................................... Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com Sports ........................................................sports@bmeagle.com the sheriff’s office. How can Sam Palmer and Jim Hamsher objec- tively oversee the sheriff’s depart- ment when they are de facto members of that department? Addi- tionally, do Sheriff Palmer’s squad of “special deputies” have access to confidential police databases used by law enforcement for legitimate inquiries? I have only been a citizen of this county for about five years, but I believe that the people of Grant County deserve a professionally run sheriff’s office that understands that Lady Liberty is blindfolded for a reason. Sadly, my observations over the past five years of how Sheriff Palmer runs his depart- ment run contrary to these basic standards. Steve Smartt John Day Be more thankful and less critical To the Editor: I want to address the grum- blings I have heard concerning the increased prices at our local Ches- ter’s Thriftway in John Day. These are tough times we are going through. Everyone is experi- 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County .........................................$45 Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$57 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Online: MyEagleNews.com Periodicals Postage Paid at John Day and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER send address changes to: Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 USPS 226-340 Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com Phone: 541-575-0710 encing difficulties from not being able to go through our day with our normal activities, to finding the food and supplies we are used to seeing on our store shelves. None of this was due to anything any of us have done or could have pre- vented. Having been an owner of a restaurant and store in the past I know the struggles these busi- nesses are going through to stay open to serve our needs. They are not only putting their health at risk but also finding it difficult to finan- cially trying to sustain their busi- nesses. The prices of their ship- ments have gone up if they can get their needed products at all. If you see increased prices at the gro- cery stores or your local restau- rants just know they are not goug- ing you, they are simply trying to stay in business so they can serve our needs. We need to remember that when we have fundraisers or need dona- tions of any kind our local busi- nesses are the first to divvy up. Let’s all take a moment to be thankful for what we have and less critical of those who are working hard and putting their health on the line to serve us. Rusty Clark Monument Copyright © 2020 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. 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