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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2020)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 3, 2020 Legislature should be making budget choices O regon’s general fund budget may take a $2.7 billion hit in this current budget cycle. Oregon cannot legally have a budget deficit. How will the state cut that money? There are essentially two ways. The governor can do across-the-board cuts. Legis- lators could choose to let that stick, or they can come up with their own plan. The governor and legisla- tors should work together to come up with something more discriminating than across- the-board cuts. That’s what we elect them for — to set pri- orities and make those tough decisions. Gov. Kate Brown already asked state agencies to make plans to cut their budgets by 17%. That may be slightly more than what is needed, but the plans will be a good start- ing point for discussion. Since 2002, governors have used what’s called allotment reduction five times, driven by recessions. Allotment reduc- tion is just the official name for across-the-board cuts. But when the governor does that, the governor can’t pick and choose. The assumption must be that all general fund budget allotments have the same pri- ority and each gets cut by the same percentage. Some parts of state government actually can’t get cut under this pro- cess. For instance, the sec- retary of state, the state trea- surer, the lottery, public universities and the judicial branch are exempt. It also gets complicated because agencies do get some discretion in implementing cuts. An agency doesn’t need to spread them out equally within an appropriation from the general fund. It could decide certain departments could get cut and others would not. If the Legislature is con- vened, it has much more authority to fine tune any cuts. It could fully eliminate a pro- gram or service that had been authorized. That can’t be done without the Legislature. The Legislature also could, for instance, decide that it would be silly to cut anything from the state’s employment depart- ment at this time because the agency has had so much trou- ble meeting the demand for unemployment payments. Additionally, the Legislature has the authority to cut spend- ing for any entity under its budget power and can elimi- nate jobs and positions. Oregon does have about $1.6 billion in rainy day funds, and Congress may take more action to help states. Regard- less, the state will have some tough decisions to make. Because the Legislature has the power to more precisely decide how Oregon will respond to the budget chal- lenge, the Legislature should convene to do so. 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. • Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900 Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-1730. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@oregonlegislature.gov. • Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503- 986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature. gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@ oregonlegislature.gov. WASHINGTON, D.C. • The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202- 456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456- 1414. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by GUEST COMMENT Make Facebook and Google pay for local news, just like you I f you are a newspaper sub- scriber or you pick up a copy at a local retailer, you pay for the news and information you receive in your paper’s print edition or digital outlets. But it may surprise you to learn that the multi-billion-dollar digital behemoths Facebook and Google don’t pay for the enor- mous amounts of news content they scoop up from newspapers every second. Facebook doles out a little bit of money through grants and funds to a few pub- lishers — and Google provides some small grants through its News Initiative. While these are positive steps, they in no way make up for the use of the news content they are using for free. Newspapers’ original report- ing, especially on the com- munity news and information that only local papers can pro- vide, drive traffic to Facebook and Google, keeping people on their sites longer and attracting advertisers. And news is a rich source of revenue for the Big Tech plat- forms. A 2019 study conducted by the News Media Alliance concluded that news publish- ers’ content makes up 16-39% of Google’s search results, which goes largely uncompensated. That figure doesn’t include the more intangible benefits that news content, and the data that comes with it, provide the search giant, such as using it for new product development. The irony is that the news and content that newspapers pay journalists to provide is used by Google and Face- book to steadily drive advertis- ing revenue away from newspa- pers, and into their coffers. The Dean Ridings two digital giants now gobble up 60% of all online advertising in the United States — an amount certain to increase with the cra- tering of newspaper ad revenue caused by the coronavirus pan- demic. Facebook and Google don’t have reporters or the asso- ciated expense. They rely on small and large newspapers to feed their search results. Here’s why this patently unfair situation should concern you and your community: It now threatens the existence of some local newspapers, the source of news and information that underpins democracy and civic life itself. It’s long past time for Google and Facebook to do what news- papers and their subscribers do: Pay for the local news that bene- fits them so richly. There are ways for that to happen. Ideally, Google and Facebook would take the responsibility and voluntarily propose a method to share rev- enue with newspapers and other news organizations. They already pay licensing fees to music publishers, for instance. Realistically, though, the two behemoths will have to be forced to a solution. America’s Newspapers, an association of some 1,500 newspapers includ- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ask if anything else is needed To the Editor: I recently bought a butane weed burner at one of our local hardware stores. The clerk checked me out, smiled and said, “Have a nice day.” I just stood there looking at her, and finally, she said, “Will there be anything else?” I said, “Do you have the propane to go with this?” She was going to send me home to use this device with no propane, making it necessary to drive all the way back to get some. And this was not an isolated incident — none of the clerks in town will ever ask you if there is anything else you need or would like to go with the thing you just bought. It’s almost a John Day dis- tinctive. I’ve never seen any- thing like it before, and it’s very annoying. Richie Colbeth John Day L ETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244. 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 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 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 MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION ing many operated by fami- lies for multiple generations, along with the News Media Alli- ance and other media associa- tions have urged Congress to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, allowing newspaper publishers as a group to negotiate rates with Big Tech. Other nations around the world have taken notice of the ill effect the market domi- nance of Google and Facebook has on the viability of inde- pendent journalism. Australia is now developing a code that would require Google and Face- book to compensate news orga- nizations when their content is used in the digital giants’ news products. Similarly, France just ordered Google to negotiate with news publishers over pay for news content. This public health crisis has demonstrated the importance of the reporting of local news- papers, even as it has wreaked economic havoc on them, forc- ing layoffs and even silencing printing presses on some days. Requiring Google and Facebook to pay their fair share for news would go a long way to restor- ing the long-term health of your local newspaper. Dean Ridings is the CEO of America’s Newspapers. On behalf of its approximately 1,500 newspaper and associate mem- ber companies, America’s News- papers is committed to explain- ing, defending and advancing the vital role of newspapers in democracy and civil life. Learn more at newspapers.org. Phone: 541-575-0710 Copyright © 2020 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of the publisher. facebook.com/MyEagleNews @MyEagleNews
