February 03, 2010
SALEM- Rep. Michael Schaufler, D-Happy Valley, talks about the need for jobs in Oregon at Wednesday’s House Committee on Business and Labor hearing.
Later that afternoon, Schaufler apologized to the body for making this speech while in committee, calling it out of order.
February 02, 2010
BY SARAH ROSS
Rep. Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg) speaks of Oregon’s high levels of unemployment during the first House Floor Session for the 2010 Special Session.
February 02, 2010
BY SARAH ROSS
SALEM- The first day of the Oregon Legislature’s special session turned out to be a long day with, as one lobbyist put it, “a whole lot of nothing” besides mingling in the halls of the capitol.
Between the lobbyists and the politicians, the only thing that remained clear for the session is that the body is trying to squeeze six months’ worth of work into their restricted one-month period. And with staff being cut back to handle about two committees each, the schedule will be even more hectic than during regular sessions.
Legislative concepts were introduced in various committees, as were the members of each committee. Work plans were also approved, laying out the agenda for the next few weeks of hearings.
Bills must leave their original committees by February 11. From there they will proceed to the other chamber’s committee, and then to the respective floor sessions for a full House and Senate vote.
It should be a very interesting month.
January 29, 2010
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.
January 22, 2010
BY SARAH ROSS
SALEM- From a recent press release, Senate President Peter Courtney (D- Salem) announced his appointments of Senators Chip Shields (D- Portland) and Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg) to the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee for the 2010 Interim Session.
The appointments of “a Portland Democrat and a Roseburg Republican”, as Courtney stated, “…will help maintain both the urban-rural and political balance on the Ways and Means Committee.”
These additions to the Committee bring about equal representation of House and Senate members on the joint committee which crafts the state budget.
The announcement also brings about a shift of committee membership for the Senate Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee. With the departure of Sen. Kruse from the Committee, Sen. Chris Telfer (R-Bend) has been selected as Committee vice chair and Sen. Jackie Winters (R-Salem) has been added to the Committee’s membership.
January 22, 2010
BY JACOB SZETO
According to Recovery.gov, the U.S. government’s official website for data related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Oregon has a total of nine new congressional districts. That’s eight more than Oregon is projected to have after the 2010 census.
These nine phantom Congressional districts include: 00, 14th, 8th, 16th, 60th, 21st, 6th, 36th and 39th.
The national stimulus has awarded Oregon $1,853,303,183, which, according to the government has saved or created 9,653 jobs for Oregonians. These phantom districts have managed to create or save 15 jobs seemingly out of thin air. All it will cost taxpayers is $4.9 million dollars, or $326,624 per job. The 60th Congressional district actually created zero jobs with $206,710 of stimulus funds.
Oregon is not alone with these phantom districts. Bill McMorris of Watchdog.org reports that a total of $6.4 billion has gone to 440 phantom districts across the nation.
According to reporter Michael Noyes of the Montana Policy Institute, Ed Pound, the director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said there are no plans to correct these errors until the next reporting cycle.
“People make errors, and we’ve found people are making errors in these reports,” said Ed Pound. “Our job is data integrity, not data quality.”
January 21, 2010
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.”
Employment Department issued a report on Wednesday stating that the state’s unemployment situation remained much the same in December as in November, hovering at 11 percent.
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.
Shortly after the report was issued, Governor Ted Kulongoski (D-OR) 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 the House Interim Committee on Business and Labor on January 14, the Employment Department showed a list of all unemployment programs for which Oregonians are eligible, ranging from 26 weeks of regular benefits to 99 weeks with extended federally funded benefits, and now 112 weeks (over 2 years) with the passage of the Oregon Emergency Benefits program ending this month.
Christina Martin, Asset Ownership Analyst at the free market Cascade Policy Institute, contradicts 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.”
January 21, 2010
BY SARAH ROSS
SALEM- Since the enforcement of Oregon smoking ban took place in January, business in the state’s previously smoker-friendly locations has dropped.
There is no question that the smoking ban has taken a toll on the state’s businesses but to the degree that the ban or the recession is responsible is still uncertain. Many businesses throughout the state have said that they’ve seen losses.
Kara Thallon of the Oregon Restaurant Association noted that taverns and bars have taken the hardest hits since the ban but that is not clear if its due to the recession or the smoking ban. She was confident that video lottery in these locations has dropped significantly because of the ban. She noted that many customers that would come in to play the video lottery machines, no longer come in or simply do not play as often because they have to leave the building in order to smoke.
Spokeswoman, Mary Loftin, of the Oregon Lottery reported that in the week of December 12th, video lottery sales were down 21.27% since the same time last year.
While Loftin made clear that there is no way to differentiate between the effects of the smoking ban and the recession, she did note that other states that have implemented smoking bans took around 2 years to bounce back to pre-smoking ban numbers.
Not only have taverns and bars taken hits, however. Tobacco shops have also faced challenges in getting their exemptions for the ban.
Salem cigar shop owner Saadeh Hadeed was confronted in February by the Marion County Department of Human Services for the simple purpose of needing to file for an exemption to the smoking ban put into effect in January of 2009. Soon after filing his application with the department, he received a letter from DHS telling him that his request for an exemption was denied. This questionable decision was because the business, Aava Cigar and Wine, was not seen as “stand alone,” meaning that it is connected to other business in the area.
Yet, the smoke shop is not inside but is on the premises of an outdoor mall with a single entrance opening to one of the mall’s courtyards. The business also has a 3 fan ventilation system to redirect smoke from the store to be released outside, above the roof of the shop. Since finding out that an exemption was needed for Aava’s, the shop has not allowed smoking on its premises which has brought sales down by $1,200 to $1,400 a week.
Jan Esler- Rowe, owner of Cascade Cigar and Tobacco, estimated that the ban took $120,000 from her company’s bottom line and forced her to lay off 4 employees when she had to choose between selling cigars and selling alcohol.
“The smoking ban has been horrendous. Just look what it has done to the lottery funds,” said Esler-Rowe. “It really has impacted small business much more than large businesses. The guys with the deep pockets get all of the exemptions and many of us just can’t afford to keep up.”
Since the enforcement of Oregon smoking ban took place in January, business in the state’s previously smoker-friendly locations has dropped.
There is no question that the smoking ban has taken a toll on the state’s businesses but to the degree that the ban or the recession is responsible is still uncertain. Many businesses throughout the state have said that they’ve seen losses.
Kara Thallon of the Oregon Restaurant Association noted that taverns and bars have taken the hardest hits since the ban but that is not clear if its due to the recession or the smoking ban. She was confident that video lottery in these locations has dropped significantly because of the ban. She noted that many customers that would come in to play the video lottery machines, no longer come in or simply do not play as often because they have to leave the building in order to smoke.
Spokeswoman, Mary Loftin, of the Oregon Lottery reported that in the week of December 12th, video lottery sales were down 21.27% since the same time last year.
While Loftin made clear that there is no way to differentiate between the effects of the smoking ban and the recession, she did note that other states that have implemented smoking bans took around 2 years to bounce back to pre-smoking ban numbers.
Not only have taverns and bars taken hits, however. Tobacco shops have also faced challenges in getting their exemptions for the ban.
Salem cigar shop owner Saadeh Hadeed was confronted in February by the Marion County Department of Human Services for the simple purpose of needing to file for an exemption to the smoking ban put into effect in January of 2009. Soon after filing his application with the department, he received a letter from DHS telling him that his request for an exemption was denied. This questionable decision was because the business, Aava Cigar and Wine, was not seen as “stand alone,” meaning that it is connected to other business in the area.
Yet, the smoke shop is not inside but is on the premises of an outdoor mall with a single entrance opening to one of the mall’s courtyards. The business also has a 3 fan ventilation system to redirect smoke from the store to be released outside, above the roof of the shop. Since finding out that an exemption was needed for Aava’s, the shop has not allowed smoking on its premises which has brought sales down by $1,200 to $1,400 a week.
Jan Esler- Rowe, owner of Cascade Cigar and Tobacco, estimated that the ban took $120,000 from her company’s bottom line and forced her to lay off 4 employees when she had to choose between selling cigars and selling alcohol.
“The smoking ban has been horrendous. Just look what it has done to the lottery funds,” said Esler-Rowe. “It really has impacted small business much more than large businesses. The guys with the deep pockets get all of the exemptions and many of us just can’t afford to keep up.”
January 11, 2010
BY SARAH ROSS
SALEM- During Friday’s State of the Courts address at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Chief Justice Paul De Muniz addressed the extreme budgetary crisis his court system has endured and will continue to endure in the coming year.
De Muniz pointed out that even though the judicial branch comprises less than 1% of the state’s budget, it is subject to the same percentage of budgetary constraints as the executive and legislative branches. Because of these budget constraints, the judicial branch has cut many services but thus far has been able to keep the courthouses safe and open five days a week, although staff must take the same number of furlough days as executive branch employees.
Despite budget cuts, De Muniz said the court system continues to advance in technology and is seeking to maintain its accountability and accessibility to the citizens of Oregon. The courts’ endeavors for 2010, he noted, are to advance the state’s eCourt “virtual courthouse” project, to renew dedication to civil litigation, and to keep courthouses safe and clean.
He concluded by pointing out a need to change the nature of the discourse on court funding taking place between the other branches of government.
“In my view, it’s time to start talking seriously about dedicated funding for the judicial branch,” De Muniz said. “I started those discussions during the last legislative sessions with legislative leaders and I intend to continue that discussion with leadership in the future.”
De Muniz emphasized that Oregon’s citizens depend on the court to preserve safety and justice in the free market system and thus requires further funding from the Oregon State Legislature and the state’s citizens to remain as open and accessible as it should.
December 22, 2009
These maps from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the rise in Oregon’s unemployment rates since 2007.
BY SARAH ROSS
