BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- After the legislature used stimulus dollars and other federal aid to balance the budget in February’s special session, Governor Ted Kulongoski is now turning to Congress again to fill remaining gaps.

Kulongoski wrote a letter to the state’s Congressional delegation urging the passage of two bills in Congress that would extend expiring medical assistance and bring more aid for educational jobs.

“But these cost-saving measures [budget cuts and salary freezes]will fall far short of covering the $560 million shortfall Oregon faces right now,” Kulongoski wrote. “With little left in our budget reserves, federal dollars will continue to be critical in our efforts to fund schools and serve the increasing numbers of Oregonians relying on the state for health care and other human services.”

Following the discovery of the State’s $577 million shortfall in the 2009-2011 biennium, Kulongoski asked each state agency to send him their plans for cutting 9% from each of their budgets for the time remaining in this biennium. These plans were returned to the Governor on Wednesday.

“Today’s plans represent the next step in this difficult process,” said Kulongoski. “There are no good answers and no easy solutions to the current shortfall. With a shortfall of this magnitude, we are limited in our options to balance the budget – and the longer we wait, the more painful and deep the cuts.”

Kulongoski is expected to finalize cuts in the budget for agencies toward the end of June when the Department of Administrative Services will “work with agencies to ‘unschedule’ funds in accordance with the 9 percent reductions.”

Speaker of the House Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas, released a statement saying the budget cut process will begin Wednesday and continue during the Legislative Emergency Board meeting on June 15. The June meeting will be used for legislators to meet with the Legislative Fiscal Office to go over the budget cuts and their expected impacts.

“The road ahead is tough. But just as we managed to fill a $4 billion budget hole in 2009, we’ll find a balanced path through this latest challenge,” said Speaker Hunt. “And we’ll do our best to continue creating jobs and protecting core services as we meet our constitutional obligation for a balanced budget.”

House Minority Leader Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, issued a response saying that balancing the budget will require “difficult and perhaps even unpopular choices.”

The Governor himself acknowledged that there will be layoffs and cuts in services to get the budget balanced again.

Instead of bringing the Legislature into a special session to rebalance the budget, the Governor decided to use his “allotment authority” to lower state spending. In addition to asking for a 9% cut across the board on agency spending, he also extended pay freezes for management and non-union government workers.

Still, House Republicans are not convinced by the Governor’s plan to act alone in fixing the budget.

“The Legislature can’t afford to wait for ‘further analysis’ or yet another taxpayer-funded bailout from the federal government,” complained Rep. Hanna. “We should immediately convene into special session, make the tough decisions, and re-prioritize spending to protect the most essential programs in education, public safety and human services from devastating cuts.”

The biggest cuts presented in these plans came from the Department of Education, with over $258 million in cuts, and the Department of Human Services, with over $158 million. These cuts would be so large because these are also the two biggest state agencies.

BY SARAH ROSS

WASHINGTON- Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined a group of other US Senators Tuesday in presenting legislation to expand vote-by-mail use among states.

“The Oregon experience has shown that vote-by-mail has been a clear winner with consistently high voter participation, costs that are 30 percent less than elections using traditional polling places and virtually none of the fraud that critics predicted,” said Sen. Wyden in Tuesday’s press release.

The first piece of legislation proposed would eliminate restrictions on getting an absentee ballot and ensure that those that want to vote by mail can. The second piece would provide $2 million grants to states or $1million grants to smaller governments that want to institute a vote-by-mail system.

Sen. Merkley added his support, saying “Enhancing absentee voting will assist countless Americans who don’t vote because they can’t make it to the ballot box. I couldn’t be prouder to join Senator Wyden’s effort to streamline the voting process and improve integrity at the ballot box.”

The group of Senators sponsoring the bill includes Oregon’s Democratic Senators, Wyden and Merkley, as well as John Kerry, D-MA, Thomas Carper, D-MD, Maria Cantwell, D-WA, and Kristen Gillibrand, D-NY.

Oregon has had a vote-by-mail system since 2000. The office of Oregon’s Secretary of State says that voter turnout has increased since they instituted the system, which was created from a 1998 ballot measure.

BY SARAH ROSS

WEST LINN- Scott Bruun, one of the Republican candidates running against Congressman Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, released his first TV commercial Wednesday.

The commercial features businessmen, a mechanic, and a woman asking if the audience has had enough of Washington, DC and Nancy Pelosi. It also discusses job loss, government bailouts, and overspending.

Bruun, currently a state representative for West Linn and Tualatin, ends the video by saying he’ll stop the “reckless spending”.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHfG8LIRccM

BY SARAH ROSS

WASHINGTON- Oregon’s delegation followed the near party line vote on Sunday’s passage of the health care reform bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, with all of its Democrat Representatives voting for the bill and its sole Republican voting against it.

“In 50 years, we’re going to look back on the health care battles of today and wonder what was so hard about making these necessary changes,” said Rep. David Wu, representing Oregon’s 1^st Congressional district. “When we look back, health care reform will stand beside Social Security, the GI Bill, and Medicare as a pillar of American progress and humane values.”

Several of the delegation’s votes were kept very quiet and said to be undecided until Medicare reimbursement language was secured for the package on Saturday. Previously, Canby’s Rep. Kurt Schrader said he was undecided and Eugene’s Rep. Peter DeFazio said he would vote no.

“This agreement begins to change the culture of healthcare delivery. States like Oregon should not be penalized for providing high quality care for less,” stated Rep. Schrader in a press release following the announcement that the delegation had secured Medicare reimbursement language. “ I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the delegation to make sure the promises made by House leaders and the Administration come to fruition so we can finally address this problem once and for all.”

The bill which originated in the Senate was passed in the House with a vote of 219-212, with 34 Democrats and all Republicans voting against it. It required just 216 votes to pass the House and is now on its way to being signed by President Obama.

Along with the passage of the health care bill, the House passed the reconciliation bill, which includes the language desired by the House members to “fix” the Senate bill. This passed 220-211 and will now proceed to the Senate for debate and voting.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The state’s unemployment situation remains bleak with 11 percent of Oregon workers out of jobs, the state reported this week.

The report showed some gains in the private sector and the manufacturing sector but listed a total of 209,576 Oregonians unemployed in December, up from 173,121 unemployed in December 2008.

Gov.Ted Kulongoski issued a statement calling the news promising but still showing that many Oregonians remain in need of work.

“Because of this need, I will continue to urge Congress to consider another unemployment benefit extension to ensure those who are out of work will continue to be able to look for work and support themselves and their families. On the state side, I will also work with legislative partners in February to reauthorize a state extension of unemployment benefits to complement any action at the federal level.”

In a presentation to a House Committee on January 14, the Employment Department showed a list of all unemployment programs for which Oregonians are eligible, ranging from 26 weeks to over 2 years of benefits.

Christina Martin, an analyst at Oregon Politico’s parent company the Cascade Policy Institute, rebutted the governor’s plan, stating, “While it feels good to extend unemployment insurance benefits, economics teaches that it will extend unemployment for the average beneficiary and that it is a poor investment in economic recovery. It fails to truly help the unemployed. Ultimately, workers need opportunities. That means we should be stimulating entrepreneurial activity through tax cuts and other incentives.”

Gov. Kulongoski ended his statement by saying, “As Governor, my focus remains on working across public and private-sector lines to ensure Oregon is well positioned for the long term, which means investing in job creation as well as helping Oregonians manage this difficult period.”