 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
FEATURE ARTICLES | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memo's | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
March said taking some people off the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) shifts them to seek help in emergency rooms, which will cost taxpayers more. His office has received numerous emails from medically needy Mid-County residents whose medications funding may be cut off. March’s office is connecting people to pharmaceutical industry programs for the medically needy and telling them to surf the web for the needydrugs.com website.
“I’ve had constituents in here that are very concerned about family members who are losing their drug coverage and who are concerned about themselves,” Merkley said about OHP. “The cuts are a harsh, short-term situation that can wreak havoc in short order for people with life threatening or mental illness. It is absolutely essential we restore funding to that program.”
Dingfelder said in addition to talks with Multnomah County commissioners, area medical providers and non profit organizations that help disabled, medically needy and mentally disabled, she was concerned about services for youth. After a recent visit to the Donald E. Long Facility on NE 70th Ave., near Halsey, she said “if we could invest more in prevention programs before they are locked up, we would be spending $7,000 to give each youngster a good education rather than $40,000 to put a kid in prison.”
 |
| (click image to enlarge view) |
| Mid-Multnomah County legislators’ districts are: Frank Shields - Senate District 24, Avel Gordly - Senate District 23, Jeff Merkley - House District 47, Jackie Dingfelder - House District 45 and Steve March - House District 46. |
Shields, who serves on the senate health policy committee that structures the OHP, said he has received much feedback on Measure 28’s failure.
“Education” is the word most heard in the halls of the legislature this session. With closings of Wilcox Elementary School in the Montevilla neighborhood and Youngson elementary in South Tabor neighborhood, March said in addition to concerns about fewer school days, numerous “people have contacted me, concerned that students would have longer walks to schools.” He called safety a worry, with some students “crossing Glisan or Division Streets and walking along 82nd Avenue.” March said funding schools was tricky, because “every other program has a constituency behind it.”
Merkley, with two youngsters in school, called it a “very personal” problem in which “everyone has wrestled with what it means to provide stable funding for the schools. Everyone is for stable funding but what does that mean?”
“Recent talks with Superintendents Barbara Rommel of David Douglas School District and Mike Taylor of Parkrose School District “have provided me with an ongoing commentary on the challenges they are facing,” Merkley said. “Challenges such as larger class size, cutting back extra curricular programs, increasing student fees, and not filling positions they would normally fill.”
Rep. Merkley said David Douglas is in a better financial position than most districts because “it had some reserves and managed its funds better than most, but will still be impacted by the 2003-05 biennium.”
Merkley is drafting a referral constitutional amendment, which would empower the government to adjust various state tax rates to raise funds for educating each student, with shifts to accommodate inflation.
In addition to the lagging national economy, Dingfelder blamed 1990’s Measure 5 which shifted most school funding from local property taxes to state control through income taxes which have diminished.
Shields said that in his position as a board member for Mount Hood Community College, he also sees “the impact of higher education funding reductions, as we review plans for raising tuition and limiting course offerings, including for students at the Maywood Annex campus.”
“There are no easy answers. We have some very difficult decisions,” said Dingfelder. “Everyone here is very aware of the weight on their shoulders. It is a matter of life and death for some individuals. I take that seriously.”
The House recently passed and sent to the senate a bill by Minnis to restore some of the funds earmarked for the medically needy and restoring some state police positions in the current biennium.
Government officials have been looking at cutting the fat in some programs, but find most is already lean meat. Some are looking into little nooks and crannies trying to squeeze a few extra bucks.
One such area is the lottery and its video poker receipts. Several Mid-County businesses with the machines have cried out against legislation to cut their share by 20 percent.
While Merkley expressed doubts such a measure would even receive a hearing, Dingfelder and Gordly said they support it. When the two women heard of a compromise bill by March to offer a “compensating factor” to businesses they agreed to study the new proposal. . “While reducing their take by 20 percent, we would increase their number of machines by 20 percent, a way the state gets more money and businesses make up for it in volume,” said March.
Support is uncertain for a proposal to shift liquor sales from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to private enterprise, which would bear the overhead costs and pay a tax on the sales.
Gordly is crafting a bill to focus on Section 9, article 6 of the Oregon constitution which “requires that when there are not sufficient funds to pay for needed government services, the legislature must levy a tax.” She said the reason five special sessions last year could not come up with a solution is the focus on another constitutional requirement — to balance the state budget.
Gordly wants the legislature to identify Section 9, article 6 as the “prevailing language” so new revenues can be sought, superseding Measure 5’s restrictions on property taxes. She also supports a sales tax, “as long as it is dedicated to pre K through 16.”
Reform of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) might not produce the dollars because of contractual provisions. One bill restructures a smaller PERS commission, limiting the number of PERS recipients on the board to one. Another bill, which Dingfelder said she voted for, caps the money matching options.
“We need a policy approach that is fair and equitable,” said Gordly. “What I see happening now is a bi-partisanship approach to crafting PERS reform, like everything else that has come out so far.” When she served as vice chair last session for the senate business and labor committee, Gordly voted for reform and was criticized for it.
MEMO Advertising | MEMO Archives | MEMO Web Neighbors | MEMO Staff | Home