Posted on 09/03/2002 8:37:07 PM PDT by Jack Black
Borrowing, income tax are options for House
09/03/02
HARRY ESTEVE
Democrats 32-28 -- was far from certain. Even the chairman of the committee working on the proposal, Rep. Ben Westlund, R-Bend, called it "half a plan."
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The Legislature is meeting in a record fifth special session of the year to deal with a $482 million shortfall caused by plummeting tax revenues. With the borrowing plan Simmons supports, a little more than half the shortfall would be covered by selling cigarette tax bonds. State agencies would have to trim their budgets to cover the rest.
A second option appeared to be picking up steam, however. Rep. Bill Witt, R-Cedar Mill, said he and Rep. Lane Shetterly, R-Dallas, met twice Monday with Kitzhaber and agreed on a financial package that would cover the entire shortfall.
Witt said the agreement includes $290 million from a temporary, three-year increase in income tax rates; about $100 million in either borrowing or use of the Common School Fund; and $80 million to $100 million in budget cuts. With the plan, income tax rates would notch up to 5.2 percent, 7.3 percent and 9.4 percent, instead of 5 percent, 7 percent and 9 percent.
"We've reached a point where tax increases have to be part of the solution," Witt said. He said 10 to 12 House Republicans are prepared to support a package that includes some sort of tax increase. Combined with Democrats, that would be enough to send the bill to the Senate.
"The challenge now is to get the speaker to allow us to get it in bill form and get it to the floor," Witt said. "The speaker hasn't conceded that yet."
The Senate has yet to weigh in on Simmons' proposal.
"We're not doing anything. We don't have any committees meeting," said Senate Majority Leader Dave Nelson, R-Pendleton. "We're just waiting to see what the House does."
Tom Towslee, a spokesman for Kitzhaber, said the governor isn't ready to talk in detail about his discussions with Republicans. But he said Kitzhaber likes the fact that they are willing to go beyond mere borrowing and cutting to fix the budget problem.
"We're moving from a two-legged approach to a three-legged approach," Towslee said.
One of the biggest concerns Republicans have about Simmons' proposal is that it would require voter approval to take effect. That question couldn't be answered until November, two months into the school year.
The plan Witt and Kitzhaber worked on would not require voter approval, unless someone gathered enough signatures on a referendum petition to force it to the ballot.
The Legislature called itself into special session Sunday -- the first time it has done that -- after the latest revenue forecast showed that the state would fall an additional $482 million short of the two-year, $12 billion budget approved last year. It is another in a string of state shortfalls brought on by Oregon's rocky economy.
Last week, Kitzhaber presided over a hearing in which state agency directors detailed deep cuts that would have to be made unless lawmakers approved new spending. Among them: layoffs of thousands of teachers, release of almost 4,000 state inmates because of prison closures and layoffs of more than 100 state troopers.
Kitzhaber has argued against borrowing and bonding measures, unless they are accompanied by more direct revenue sources, such as a tax increase. He said his biggest concern, in addition to immediate cuts, is a growing hole in the 2003-05 budget, estimated at $1.5 billion.
Harry Esteve: 503-221-8234; harryesteve@news.oregonian.com Dave Hogan: 503-221-8531; davehogan@news.oregonian.com
Maybe Oregonians can unelect all those who voted for the half assed plan.
The worst part is that so many Oregonians are so bone stupid that they'll fall for it, too.
Bill Witt is an idiot and wants nothing more than to keep his seat in the House. In fact, I believe that's all that our so-called representatives care about.
And, don't even get me started on Vera and the business climate in Portland...
" No, they can't cut funding for public broadcasting, or the Oregon Socialized Health Plan, or CIM/CAM, or the OLCC or the Arts Council, or the Race Based Commissions, or PERS, or Dept. of no-Economic Development. Goodness no! Those are essentials. But keeping criminals in prison is expendable."
"The Oregon Democrats, and too many so-called Republicans, went on a furiously-paced spending spree during the "good years", and now, instead of cutting back on all the extra government bureaucracies (read, democrat voters grateful for taxpayer-paid income), the governor and others call for HIGHER taxes on citizens already suffering from the recession."
Excellent points!
Would these be the same Oregonians that were chanting "Raise our taxes!" on the Capitol steps?
Death To all Tyrant's !!
The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security !!
Bool-sheet!
With the new revenue projections (showing that the recession is cutting even deeper into us producing citizens), it now appears that they would have to cut about 5%, which shouldn't be too hard considering they just passed a 17% increase. That would still leave them with a 12% increase, for crying out loud! Damn it pisses me off that so many people in Oregon aren't aware of these facts. Our media is so left-wing biased that it slays me.
Bill Witt is an idiot and wants nothing more than to keep his seat in the House. In fact, I believe that's all that our so-called representatives care about.
Bill Witt called in to the Gregg Clapper show this afternoon. Did you hear it? Oh, man that guy is a stinking rotten socialist RINO tax and spender. He just kept repeating that he didn't have the power to introduce a bill to cut spending -- even though he just introduced a bill to increase taxes. Doh! Clapper didn't let him skate, either. He made sure the audience saw through the charade. The ultimate was when Witt claimed he interviewed 3,000 of his constituents and they asked him to raise their taxes! What a lying sack of dung.
And, don't even get me started on Vera and the business climate in Portland...
As soon as my wife gets her BS in nursing (1 yr) and my kids are out of high school (3 yrs), I'm going to start job hunting in a state with lower taxes. Heck, I might even look for a job out of the country and find a way to pay as little tax as possible to fed, state or local. It's not much, but it's up to each person to do their part and let it all accumulate.
Like we'll really be given a choice. The public employees and welfare class outnumber us producers by quite a bit. There is some speculation that the democrats actually want an income tax referendum on the ballot because it would inspire their base to get out and vote for more taxes, which would also mean more votes for their candidates.
It's good in some respects and bad in others. We have a very high income tax and the environmental politics can be devastating to property owners. On the other hand, it has a wide variety of climate and land types to choose from, depending on your preferences.
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