Gov. Ted Kulongoski gave Oregonians an ugly surprise last week: There’s an unexpected $570 million hole in the state’s budget for the next biennium.
The hole was discovered when the state processed the 2009 income tax returns and discovered that incoming revenue was a lot less than anticipated. Exercising his “allotment authority” under state law, the governor announced he would order a 9% across-the-board spending cut.
Writing on the Blue Oregon blog, state Rep. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland) describes the “devastating” effects of the cut on state programs and institutions, including education ($252 million, mostly in K-12), Human Services ($154 million), the state university system ($30 million) and community colleges ($20 million).
Instead of cutting across the board, Republicans want a special session of the legislature to decide what should get cut and by how much. Democrats like Dembrow reject that idea: “I see that process as leading to further uncertainty and unproductive political posturing,” he writes.
I have to go along with the Republicans on this one. True, the legislators would engage in “political posturing” – when don’t they? – and the Republicans would take every opportunity to rub the Democrats’ noses in the state’s current economic and fiscal mess.
But the cuts, especially to our already battered and bloody education system, are so damaging that I think the lawmakers need to shoulder their responsibilities and make the painful choices. I find myself agreeing with Bend Republican State Sen. Chris Telfer, who’s quoted on the Oregon Catalyst site as saying the 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.”
When the current crisis is past, the legislators and the governor (whoever he may turn out to be) need to get real about providing a stable funding source for our schools.
Which makes me think of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Whether the economy is good or bad, under Democratic administrations or Republicans, ODOT never seems to suffer. It always seems to have plenty of money to tear pavement up and put it down again.
Why? Because ODOT has a dedicated source of funding – the state motor fuels tax, currently among the highest in the nation at 43.7 cents a gallon on gasoline. The motor fuels tax generated close to a billion dollars for ODOT in the current biennium. All that money must be spent on state transportation projects; the politicians can’t fiddle with it or raid it for other purposes.
Could a similar source of dedicated funding be created for education? Something small and relatively painless? How about a nickel tax on every book, magazine and newspaper sold in the state?
I haven’t penciled out how much revenue that might produce; I’m just throwing it out there as an idea. But if we don’t do something about education funding, Oregon is going to become known as the state with the most beautiful roads and the most illiterate drivers.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.
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What?! I thought the progressive liberals figured out that taxing businesses in the state of Oregon was going to fix this problem? Suckers! Slight of hand at its best. And it does not help that the current super of education spends 5x more on illegal immigrant’s children, than on our own american children!!! Typical Democrat/Liberal agenda: lie, mislead, and then cry for more. 2012 vote them ALL out!
Dear Mr. Miller,
After your article on health care, I thought I could never see you getting anything correct. Hope that you don’t question your thoughts on today’s article you wrote, but I agree with everything you wrote here. I still don’t get why you had the change of heart on this one but I must thank you!! Have a great weekend.
Tom
I’ve lived in 17 states. This is the most disturbing, backwards state of all. How do you miss 1/2 BILLION dollar shortfall? I want my kids to get an education through a state that doesn’t have its head in its rear. Gotta go, packing to move to another state. Literally!!!
First time ever I don’t disagree with Bruce. Although it seems like if it’s anything but “across the board” cuts, politicians will keep their pet projects going while other things suffer even more.
It always seems like ODOT has gobs of money for putting in new roads that matter little, yet we drive on pot holes more than we should. It seems like you could fill infinite pot holes for the price of one new road. But I could be wrong…
All I know is that ODOT is way too big for it’s britches… it’s a scary big organization with a LOT of power.
Well said kelly w. Government decision makers will never learn to operate within a budget. They steal from other funding and manipulate enough to set up the whole thing for eventual failure. The ones that are actually smart enough to “get it” just hope the hammer doesn’t fall while they are still in office. It’s ultimately just like a cake walk except when the music stops we taxpayers get to take care of the bad news with giving away more of our money and getting less for what we do contribute. So goes the way of idiot logic running rampant in government.
Mr. Miller,
How many nickels and dimes would you propose that we are taxed? Some of us have reached the topmost range of monthly expenditures, there is none left. Another dime and we will not buy groceries. Realatively painless? Go soak your head, you idiot!
“And it does not help that the current super of education spends 5x more on illegal immigrant’s children, than on our own american children!!!”
Five times more??? Where did you get that little tidbit of information? Was it from Lars or from Rush?
Regardless of Rush or Lars envy, why is one penny spent on illegals not an assault on the freedom of legal citizens?
.More taxes?Brilliant,let’s just keep taxing and taxing untill nobody can keep any of their money and we are all in soup lines.You are an idiot.
Dear Mr. Miller,
After I was introduced to you through the recent health care debate, I thought I would never agree with you on anything. But it is with excitement for me that we concur in everything you wrote here. Your thoughts are right on in my book and I thank you for expressing them.
Tom
i wonder why it is that the only thing that ever comes up for money cutting is the schools???? what else are they going to cut, maybe the govern, should cut there benefits for two years, then they might have enough money to run the institution were they work!!
GOOD article, good comments too.
Well done Bruce! Could not agree more.
Why not try cutting the ‘free lunch program’ during the summer to free up educational dollars? I am not opposed to feeding the children, but this program should not be funded by our educational dollars. Let some social services organization find a grant for this. While talking about free meal programs, just how many applications for free lunches are really verified to see if the parents qualify. If the parents are low income and qualify, they are already getting Oregon Trail cards and welfare.
Now let’s look at the Oregon Trail cards. What restrictions, if any, do the holders of these cards have on their expenditures? These cards are for food and staples.
There are so many places to cut expenditures without taxing us more. Just police the programs you have out there.
The free lunch program is not funded through our educational dollars. This program is funded through a grant from USDA. Federal $ not State $
How about parents donating their child tax credits to the schools that their children attend. That would seem fair. With 16,000 students, the Bend-Lapine School District would gain $16 million in revenue. I would think that would pretty much solve their budget problems (and that’s only a single year)!
I know, parents are going to say they need their CTCs to pay for the expense of having children, but really, shouldn’t they have figured out how to pay for them before they had them? As it stands, people without children pay more for childrens education, than the parents do – since they don’t get any tax relief. That certainly isn’t fair! And why the heck is the government paying people to have kids anyway? That just doesn’t seem to make sense in an overpopulated world. Social engineering through taxation, hmmm?
Did a little back-of-the-envelope calculation …
Total circulation of Oregon daily newspapers: 536,000 (round number) x 5 cents per copy = $26,800 a day, x 365 days = almost $9.8 million per year.
And that’s not counting out-of-state newspapers (WS Journal, New York Times, USA Today etc.) or weekly newspapers or other periodicals or books. It could add up.
RIP George Harrison
Let me tell you how it will be,
There's one for you, nineteen for me,
'Cause I'm the Taxman,
Yeah, I'm the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don't take it all.
'Cos I'm the Taxman,
Yeah, I'm the Taxman.
(If you drive a car ), I'll tax the street,
(If you try to sit ), I'll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold ), I'll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk ), I'll tax your feet.
Taxman.
'Cause I'm the Taxman,
Yeah, I'm the Taxman.
Don't ask me what I want it for
(Taxman! Mister Wilson!)
If you don't want to pay some more
(Taxman! Mister Heath!),
'Cause I'm the Taxman,
Yeah, I'm the Taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
'Cause I'm the Taxman,
Yeah, I'm the Taxman.
And you're working for no-one but me,
(Taxman).
xyz: Oddly enough, though, despite a marginal tax rate FAR higher than anybody in the US has to put up with, The Beatles didn’t leave England, contrary to the right-wing dogma that rich people flee places with high taxes and migrate to places with low taxes. How do you explain that?
Oh, I also notice that Phil Knight is still in Oregon.
“I am not opposed to feeding the children, but this program should not be funded by our educational dollars. Let some social services organization find a grant for this.”
So many people seem to think that billions of dollars in grant money is just lying around in the street waiting to be picked up. My wife runs a social services organization and, believe me, it ain’t that easy.
The hole you refer to in the budget is what is known as a black hole.
From http://stefanmikarlsson.blogspot.com/2010/06/us-federal-debt-exceeds-13-trillion.html
U.S. Federal Debt Exceeds $13 Trillion
U.S. Federal debt exceeded 13 trillion dollars for the first time ever on June 1. More specifically, it was $13,051 billion, an increase with $543 billion compared to 3 months earlier and with $1,671 billion compared to 12 months earlier.
It will never end. They will ask for more, and spend more, and borrow more, sucking all life and energy into the event horizon where it is annihilated.
Your answer is to create more of the same problems that Chris Telfer railed against in the special election in January. You called her a fool, and now you propose we do more of what Telfer identified as a major structural problem for this state. Your unbelievable denseness will never cease to amaze me.
“The Beatles didn’t leave England, contrary to the right-wing dogma that rich people flee places with high taxes and migrate to places with low taxes”
The Beatles! Couldn’t find an example from the last forty years?
Jon, YOUR side brought The Beatles into the discussion. And anyway, Paul and Ringo, the only surviving Beatles, still maintain residence in Britain (and are still rich).
xyz: Why are you talking about the federal deficit in a discussion of the state budget and revenue?
“Jon, YOUR side brought The Beatles into the discussion. And anyway, Paul and Ringo, the only surviving Beatles, still maintain residence in Britain (and are still rich).”
Come on HBM, I posted the lyrics to a popular song from 45 years ago, as it was apropos while at the same time a lighthearted addition to the discussion. The issue is taxes, not The Beatles. Of course you want to mischaracterize what my point was, that is you typical approach.
“xyz: Why are you talking about the federal deficit in a discussion of the state budget and revenue?”
My point is simple. Regardless of the level of government they are all in massive budget holes. It is the same everywhere because spending is out of control. Your solution is to tax more, and create a greater distortion through poorly structured tax policy. Telfer was correct earlier this year, and you now tacitly acknowledge it, but you won’t admit it. What you want to do is more of what Telfer showed was one of the biggest problems with our budget process.
“Telfer was correct earlier this year, and you now tacitly acknowledge it, but you won’t admit it.”
How did I “tacitly acknowledge it”? She was full of crap about the hidden billions in the budget. I said it then and I repeat it now.