BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The Senate Republican Office announced Wednesday that they are seeking a vote among legislators to call the body into a special session.

GOP officials are asking for the session to deal with Tuesday’s news that the current biennium is facing a gap of over $560 million between what the Legislature budgeted and what the state economist projected revenues to be for this year.

Bend Republican Senator Chris Telfer had this to say in Wednesday’s press release: “Callous over-spending by the majority party has created this massive shortfall, and some reductions are an unfortunate necessity.”

However, Sen. Telfer and GOP leaders have spoken out against Governor Ted Kulongoski’s plan to allocate the budget himself and make 9% cuts across the board for state departments and agencies.

“These cuts should happen carefully and precisely reflecting the priorities of Oregonians, protecting the most vulnerable and investments in K-12 classrooms. That means the legislature must come into session and do what it was elected to do,” stated Sen. Telfer.

The Senate Republican Office has reported that ballots to initiate a special session will be sent to the state’s Representatives and Senators as soon as the Legislative Administrator deems it “practical.”

If a majority of the members in both chambers vote to have a special session, then the Legislature will be required to have one.

Gov. Kulongoski said in a press conference Tuesday that this time of year, with the partisanship acquired during an election cycle, would not be conducive to making good policy decisions.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The three Republican legislators representing Salem held a town hall Tuesday to discuss the recent legislative session.

The legislators, Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, and Rep. Kevin Cameron, R-Salem, opened the meeting by discussing their experiences during February’s month-long special session.

Sen. Winters highlighted the legislation she passed, including a bill to protect wineries in the Willamette Valley and a memorial honoring a local doctor.

The two House members talked about how they signed their name onto several bills but did not present any themselves because they believe no major policy items should come out of the constitutionally titled “emergency session.”

The legislators fielded questions on the tax measures 66 and 67, PERS contract agreements, the state budget, kicker reform, and potential tax increases.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QynF10iz5_o

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Shortly after the gavel dropped Thursday on February’s special session, leaders for the state’s two legislative bodies spoke on the progress, or lack thereof, which was made in February.

Senate Minority Leader, Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, spoke about the partisan politics which he says played into the policies passed.

“The majority party has spent the last 24 days using the legislature as their personal political cattle prod, hoping that Oregonians won’t notice the posturing and vengeful, partisan retribution against political enemies,” said Ferrioli.

Contrarily, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, made an effort to shed light on the body’s accomplishments during the short session.

“We showed that in Oregon when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. We didn’t sit on our hands. We accomplished what we came here to do,” he said. “We brought the state budget back into balance after a revenue forecast that was down and tackled important policy issues.”

Speaker of the House, Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas County, echoed that sentiment saying, “From extending unemployment benefits and funding day care for low income families to adding more dollars for college aid, we’ve helped families today when they need it most.”

Roseburg Republican Bruce Hanna, House Minority Leader, made clear his frustrations on the legislature’s attempts to improve job creation in the state.

“There was a lot of talk about creating jobs, but the only jobs that were created this session were 200 new government positions that’ll be difficult for us to sustain in the future,” stated Hanna.

“It’s unfortunate that rather than curbing spending, legislative leaders drained reserves, increased state debt and then called for a federal bailout for the next budget.”

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Monday will ring in Salem’s test case for annual sessions, bringing state legislators to the state capital for the body’s Special Session.

And what is on the agenda for the month-long meeting? Everything from a constitutional amendment declaring health care a right for all Oregonians, to the House Speaker’s repeal of a ban on teachers wearing religious garb in the classroom.

Also on the list is a ballot measure which would bring about another constitutional amendment allowing for annual meetings of the Legislature, instead of the current meeting every two years, and a ban on the chemical Bisphenol A.

More bills include an extension of unemployment benefits, early release for over 4,000 inmates, sobriety checkpoints to stop DUII offenders, new limits on the controversial Business Energy Tax Credit, an ethics bill to prevent legislators from accepting jobs in state government, and a modification of the current kicker refund.

On the business front comes a proposed tax credit for making capital improvements and a tax credit for woody biomass, pushed by the Republican caucus.

For more information on the session’s bills, check out the Oregon Politico’s Bill Tracker.