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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2001)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, March 21, 2001 Tho INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice monthly, on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Edi tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com You F**- T a < C ny M cm vö / Opinion___________ Budgeting requires adequate information It’s budget time for government bodies in Oregon; the only problem is that local governments don’t yet have enough information to complete the process. Vernonia School District doesn’t yet know how much it will be getting from the state...and won’t know until the legislature and the governor agree on the amount. When this legislative session began, the Re publican leadership was talking about first taking care of education funding. This time, they said, they weren’t going to let it drag on and on. It sounded like they re ally understood the need for efficiency. That was in January. It is now nearing the end of March and the legisla tive leadership is no closer to making a decision on school funding than it was in January. As a matter of fact, there haven’t been any funding decisions made at all. Anyone who has tried to plan a budget knows how impossible that task is without any idea of what your income will be. It is time — past time - for the “leader ship” to stop talking about what they are going to do and start doing it. When the voters passed Measures 5 and 40, which eliminated local control over school funding, it became the responsibility of the legislature. When a person is elected to the state legislature, they accept that re sponsibility. If they can’t handle the job, they should resign. The City of Vernonia has delayed completion of its budget for an entirely different reason. Collective bar gaining is underway and, until negotiations are final, they also lack necessary information. There are two other problems facing all public agencies this year: Health insurance premiums may increase by as much as 30 percent and nobody knows how much energy rate increases will be. This is not an easy year for public budget architects. Speaking of budgets... There are vacancies on the Budget Committee of the Vernonia School District and that is a great place for new school board members, or anyone really in terested in local schools, to become acquainted with reality. The two new directors in the Vernonia district would be wise to apply for spots on the budget com mittee. Jim Krahn has some experience in that venue and could quickly become a contributing member. Rick Ho bart, on the other hand, has yet to attend a school board meeting so it would be even more valuable for him to get started as quickly as possible. Perhaps the most valuable result o f all education is the abil ity to m ake yourselfdo the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the fir st lesson that ought to be learned; it is probably the last lesson [we] learn thoroughly. — T.H. Huxley (18 2 5 -1 8 9 5 ) 5 n r ? r? r-> i n r~ t - Q sy /T a Salem Scese \By Rep. Elaine M. Hopson Second District MARCH 9, 2001 A busy, busy week as bills come through, needs are identified, and money decreases. As you are no doubt aware, there appears to be a slight downturn in the economy and that projects a reduction in the revenues available to the state to fund programs. This impacts all areas and tough choices will need to be made. On March 6, the Speaker’s Task Force on Funding for Seniors and Disabled Services had its first meeting at the Hilyard Senior Center in Eugene. The hearing was attended by over one hundred people, mostly seniors and citizens with disabilities. Numerous issues were presented in cluding the severe impacts cuts will cause to our programs for these special populations. It is safe to say that everyone sees the benefit of the programs targeted for potential cuts; however, there is not agreement as to where the money is to address these needs. It is so distressing to re alize that in order to provide funding in one area, resultant cuts will occur in other areas. There was every expectation that the Com munity Colleges budget would be passed on Thursday. Although the budget is very reason able and deserves support (in my opinion), it was put on hold to await more information re garding revenues and the total, overall state budget. The most important factor is the $45 million to address the student growth issue. There are some other related programs that ap ply specifically to certain community colleges that do not support us directly. These programs are open for discussion at some later point prior to the budget moving the Ways and Means. During these times of tight money, special pro grams, especially those that were originally set up as “pilot programs” may need to be dropped, even though they are excellent. MARCH 16, 2001 The Governor finished his press conference just a few minutes ago and has “re-balanced” his budget. Included within his rebalance are the fol lowing: restoration of $12.5 million for senior services; $6.8 million to restore up to 50 percent of Oregon Project Independence; $45 million to Oregon University System; $9.7 million to Ore gon State Police; $6.4 million to retain Tillamook Youth Accountability Camp; and $5 million to the Emergency Pund. These additions will certainly help us in District 2 to address some of the needs we have in education, senior services, and education. The Governor maintained his support for the Oregon Children Plan as origi nally set out in his budget. Last Saturday, the Task Force on Seniors and Disabled traveled to Medford where we heard from seniors and residents regarding the pro posed budget reductions. Tomorrow, March 17, we travel to Bend to talk with folks there. There continues to be hope that money will be avail able to support these much-needed services. Forestry and Agriculture Committee passed out a bill that would allow money from gifts and grants to the Oregon Department of Forestry to be used for enhancements for recreational pur poses in the State Forests. The committee con tinues to address issues that attempt to balance the various needs of our agriculture, farming, and forestry needs with the demands imposed by various conservation needs in order to pro tect the future. In Education, wc spent considerable time on changing the mandatory school attendance age from ages 7-18 to 5-18. With the understanding that some five-year-olds are not ready to attend formal education, there is a continual challenge to find ways to educate our youth to their full po tential. The issue has become quite controver sial with strong feelings on both sides. I am in fa vor of the change with the understanding that concerned parents who can offer their children more benefits at home or in other programs should be allowed to do so. In Education Ways and Means we have spent this week on the Oregon Student Assistance Commission (formerly known as the Scholarship Commission) budget. This is the organization that provides financial assistance to higher edu cation students including community colleges and four-year institutions. Oregon is somewhat unique in that both public and private colleges use the same system and this streamlines the process for applicants. Although there are some monies available from the federal government, the state also allocates funds in the form of grants and loans to assist those in need. These financial aids serve students of all ages. Rep. E laine H op son Salem Office; H-376 State Capitol Salem, OR 97310 Phone: 503-986-1402 email: hopson.rep@state.or.us IIUamOfiLOffliai P.O. Box 656 Tillamook, OR 97141 Phone:1-503-842-5656 e m a il: ehopson@oregoncoast.com .......... ........ - ■ ............ - .....................' ----- -------
