While all you seem to see these days in the media are stories about how some corporations and their lobbyists are mad at the legislature for finally raising the $10 corporate minimum tax, there’s a much larger group of Oregonians who are happy with the work the legislature did this session – Oregon’s 80,000 uninsured children.
On October 1st, the two laws that the 2009 Legislature passed to provide Oregon kids with health insurance coverage go into effect. Many of us in the Legislature believe those two bills – HB 2009 and HB 2116 – will eventually be considered two of the most important bills we passed this session.
Unlike the debate over health care in our nation’s capital, legislators from the House and Senate, Governor Kulongoski, hospitals, insurers, and providers came together to solve a problem that has been plaguing our state (and most other states) for decades… and we succeeded.
Providing access to health care for our uninsured kids and controlling the costs of our health care system will pay dividends for Oregon far into the future. Healthier kids mean fewer visits to the emergency room. Minor illnesses will be addressed before they become major illnesses. Kids will perform better in school and have a better chance at succeeding in life.
Meanwhile, because these kids can now get preventive care, you and I will no longer be forced to pay for the expensive, uncompensated care they often receive today. It’s one way we will begin to put the brakes on the rapidly escalating costs of our health care system.
Another key bill we passed this year goes into effect on October 1. — our new Jobs and Transportation Act. Here again, the Legislature demonstrated that we can come together in a bipartisan way to solve a critical problem facing our state – the decades – old disinvestment in our transportation infrastructure that’s created gridlock, hurt businesses that rely on moving freight and force parents into lengthy commutes when they should be spending time at home.
While it will cost the average Oregon family with two cars less than $10 a month when fully implemented, the short-term job gains and the long-term benefits to our transportation system – from our state highways and local roads to bike trails and better bus service for seniors – are well worth the costs. And remember, you won’t see any increases in gas taxes to pay for this system until we have two straight quarters of economic growth or January of 2011.
Unlike California and many other states, the Oregon Legislature faced this global recession head-on. Yes, we made billions in budget cuts. But we also passed these new laws that will pro-actively spur Oregon’s economy, create thousands of new Oregon jobs, and pay us huge dividends in the decades to come. And we protected the core services of education, health care and public safety on which so many Oregonians rely.
So while our kids may not realize it today, we helped pave the way to a much brighter future for Oregon.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.
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In order to do so you also increased the taxes on the poor, and low income workers, and will make it more difficult for them to keep their cars licensed, and registered, much less put gas in the tank. Then there was the increased tax on health insurance.
What else are you going to raise the cost of creating more of a burden on the lower income people?
BTW, wasn’t SCHIPP’s already available to children without health care under the bill Obama signed into law earlier this year?
Weren’t children qualified under the Oregon Health Plan which went bankrupt in 2004 so no new members could enter the plan till the lottery opened up last year?
Your “brighter future” is bankruptcy for the State.
BTW, while you are here, can you explain why we here in Central Oregon are paying $2.77 a gallon for gas, and $2.83 here in La Pine, while the national average is $2.47, and in some areas as low as $2.20? And don’t tell me it is shipping costs.
I’m not sure of Hunt actually posted this, or if the editors just c/p’d one of his press releases, although I suspect the latter is the case.
HB 2009 simply requires the Oregon HRC to conduct “effectiveness research”, and to require “providers” to encourage adoption of the findings of that research. And then there is the usual appropriation of funds to do so.
HB 2116 mandates a 1% tax on the providers of the following insurance policies:
(a) Insurance policies covering vision only or dental only
benefits;
(b) Medicare advantage plans;
(c) Medicare Part D plans;
(d) Long term care insurance;
(e) Health insurance issued to federal employees that is exempt
from state taxes under federal law;
(f) A policy of stop-loss coverage that meets the requirements
of ORS 742.065;
(g) Insurance policies issued to supplement liability insurance
coverage;
(h) Automobile medical payment insurance or insurance under
which benefits are payable with or without regard to fault and
that is required by law to be contained in a liability insurance
policy or equivalent self-insurance;
(i) Reinsurance as defined in ORS 731.126;
(j) Workers compensation insurance; and
(k) Disability insurance.
So, you can bet you are going to see higher costs.
For current gas tax rates visit http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp. For current gas prices visit http://gasbuddy.com/GB_StateList.aspx.
The three lowest tax states: Alaska–$.08, Georgia–$.08, and Wyoming–$.14. Gas prices for those three are $3.55, $2.25, and $2.39, respectively. Alaska has no refineries, I believe and must re-import all gasoline by tanker.
The three highest tax states are Pennsylvania–$.31, Rhode Island–$.30, and Wisconsin–$.32. Gas prices respectively are $2.42, $2.54, and $2.44.
Oregon has a $.24 tax rate and an average price of $2.74. Other states with the same tax rate: Idaho, Kansas, and Massachusetts (One from east west and central) average $2.58, $2.33, and $2.42 respectively.
They charge what they charge because they can. I am sure there is no conspiracy involved–like price fixing. It’s pure market forces in a free market economy.
Let the rape continue!!
Evidently there are refineries for gasoline in AK. Here’s an interesting link: http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=8104105
Using the State tax rates does not explain why gas is cheaper in Chemult. 8 counties have their own gas tax, and Redmond just passed a .03 per gallon tax.
When the price was around 4 dollars a gallon I noticed the same difference here in Central Oregon. I contacted the State Attorney General’s office over the issue, ans was told it had to do with the cost of transporting the gas from the valley to Central Oregon. In reality this made no sense to me if you consider that a truck can haul 10,000 gallons on a trip, and at a rate of $1.20 per mile (the average cost of the trucking) that would only add an additional cost of approximately $200.00 to the load. Take the 10,000 gallons, divide it into the cost, and you can easily see it does not compensate for the 40 cent difference.
Another excuse I was given was “supply and demand”. Central Oregon is considered a “tourist” economy. Thus the cost would be higher for that simple reason.
I would agree with you that the people in general are being gouged by forces beyond their control. However, I do not think it is some vast conspiracy by the oil companies. For example, look at the cost of food in Oregon generally, and in Central Oregon in particular. One can pay for a trip to Eugene, or Portland, to do their shopping simply by the savings in cost. Or even from La Pine to Bend.
As an example of this, recently Shop Smart had one of their “mega meat sales”. Hills sausage links were selling for $13.30 for a 5 pound box. Wednesday I went to Bend for other reasons, and I went to Food-4-Less and bought the same sausage in a 10 pound box for $12.80. Then there is Cash and Carry where one can save on many things like cheese, potatoes, etc. I might point out that Ray’s owns Shop Smart, and Kroger’s owns both Food-4-Less, and Fred Meyers.
Anyway, I was just wondering if Hunt could explain some of these things.