Senate ponders how to heal
Oregon 9s ravaged highways
This winter has not only
been one of the coldest and
wettest in Oregon's history, it
has also been the reason for
the state's roads being in their
.worst condition in years.
By Senator
Ken Jerngtedt
Department of Transporta
tion studies indicate that more
than 4,400 miles of highways
are moderately to extremely
deteriorated and more than
half the system is approaching
or has exceeded its design life.
If the Legislature fails to act
this session to increase high
way revenue, then within two
years more than two-thirds of
Oregon's 7,600 miles of road
way may be substandard.
Good roads cost an esti
mated $5,000 per mile for
regular maintenance. When a
road falls into the extremely
deteriorated category, costs
skyrocket to $200,000 per mile
for major overlay work.
The Department of Trans
portation says that cost during
the next 10 years to keep up
with major road repairs would
be almost $1 billion signifi
cantly more than the proposed
$445 million biennium trans
portation budget.
Actually only about $223
million would go to the
Highway Division the rest of
the $445 would be designated
for local government, state
police, parks and administra
tive costs. I am one of 52
legislators who have sponsor
ed a resolution to change this
by submitting for voters'
approval a constitutional
change which would limit the
use of motor vehicle taxes to
highway purposes, highway
bond retirement, and admini
strative costs.
A number of other suggest
ions hjave been made as to how
to increase funding for high
way repair and maintenance.
One is to increase the present
7 cents per gallon gas tax a
penny a year until it reached a
ceiling of 11 cents in 1985. Only
three states have lower gas
taxes than Oregon's.
Other ideas include a $10 to
$15 tax on studded tires; a new
car sales tax; increased
vehicle registration fees;
higher driver's license fees;
taxes on horsepower, tires and
lubricating oil; a tax of 10
cents per cubic inch displace-
Siate seeks
info from
tagged fish
The Fish and Wildlife De
partment is still looking for
1978 salmon-steelhead tags,
many of which are apparently
still traveling about in the
wallets of anglers.
Rich Berry, staff biologist
for the Department who
compiles salmon and steel
head catch data, says only
about ten per cent of tags sold
in 1978 have been returned so
far and he is looking for a
return of at least 30 per cent in
order to make catch estimates
for the various streams and
ports as accurate as possible.
The tags provide the bulk of
the Department's information
on salmon and steelhead catch
on a stream by stream and
port by port basis. The data
received on the catch records
is analyzed statistically to
come up with harvest esti
mates for each individual
system. The information is
crucial to the state's manage
ment programs.
Tags from those who did not
fish and those who fished but
caught nothing are also need
ed and should be turned in.
Berry reminds anglers to
check the appropriate boxes
on the tag which ask about
fishing activity.
Tags can be dropped off in
boxes provided at stores
where hunting and fishing
licenses are sold, or can be
mailed directly to the Depart
ment, P.O. Box 3503, Portland,
OR 97208.
ment a car with an engine of
100 cubic inches would pay
$10.
. And then there is the matter
of the disposition of the
estimated surplus of at least
$170 million that will be on
hand as of July.
Two years ago then-Senator
Atiyeh and a few of the rest of
us sponsored a bill to return
such surpluses to income
taxpayers. That measure got
nowhere!
Governor Atiyeh's tax plan,
which has apparently died in
the House Revenue Commit
tee, called for returning this
year's surplus to the taxpay
ers but he now seems inclined
to use $100 million of it for
road repair and maintenance.
This is a dilemma which the
Legislature is going to have to
solve, and solve soon!
I am very interested in
knowing how the people of my
district feel about this possible
use of the surplus and about
any of the other suggestions
detailed above, and I would
very much appreciate hearing
from you on this subject.
House debates voter
registration regulations
By Rep. Bill Bellamy
HB 2322 being debated
before the House Elections
would cut off voter registra
tion 30 days before an election
thus, eliminating election day
registration.
Election officials argue that
no registration deadline
causes legal and technical
problems. Some voter regis
stration lines have been sever
al blocks long on election day.
Such waiting lines tie up key
election officers, don't allow
time to certify that each
person is a qualified voter,
and cause delays for register
ed voters who need to see
election officials for other
reasons.
Election officials say not
having a cut off threatens the
integrity of Oregon's election
process. They say voters have
an obligation to register to
vote and that obligation should
be met 30 days before an
election; not 30 minutes.
Supporters of the cut off say
present law does not allow
time to check identification,
and the search for fraud can
be done only after the election.
In a recnt survey taken from
Dist. 55, 88 people out of 104
felt there should be a cut off
date. Five felt the cut-off date
should be one day; 26 said one
week would be sufficient, but
the majority 42 seemed to
favor a one month cut-off date.
People seem to perceive the
possibility of fraud and want
the law revised.
Opponents of the measure
say no election fraud has
occured because of the pres
ent registration process. They
cite reports from the Secre
tary of State's office showing
no fraud has been proven to
back up this contention.
Supporters, however, argue
that the threat of fraud looms
over the election process. It's
also difficult to prove fraud
has occurred and Oregon's
elections must be above even
the suspicion of fraud.
Keeping in mind that the
right to vote is still considered
a coveted privelege in many
countries around the world,
shouldn't Oregonians take
notice of one of their most
valuable rights and make
registration a priority rather
than a last-minute decision?
Some interesting facts to
note. ..the Oregon Legislature
has been in session for more
than 60 days now which
signals the one-third mark.
The 1977 Legislature was in
session for 177 days and the
1975 session lasted 181 days.
The Legislature has passed
and sent to the Governor 42
pieces of legislation including
27 state budgets totaling $20
million. The stale budget,
submitted to the Legislature
by Governor Atiyeh, allocates
nearly $10.3 billion of state,
federal and other funds. The
Ways and Means Committee'
members seem confident that
they can hold state spending
close to Governor Atiyeh's
austere budget. If that were
accomplished, state spending
would increase at just eight
per cent per year. For the past
three years, state spending
has increased an average of 23
per cent per year perhaps
the public mandate for re
duced state spending has
broken through.
printing
The
Gazette-Times
676-9228
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