|
A
Day in the Life
Measure
28 supports
the support
system.
By
Michele Taylor
John Hitt wakes up at 4 am without
an alarm clock. He eats breakfast, packs his lunch, and heads out
the door to the bus stop. He catches the 5:30 am bus on Bailey Hill
Road. He gets off at Eugene Station and connects to another bus that
drops him at Whittier Wood Products by 7 am.
At Whittier, John spends his eight-hour days inspecting
No. 5 swivels to make sure they are greased properly. He slides each
quality-controlled swivel into a padded envelope, folds the envelope
in half and then places the envelope in a box that sits on a pallet.
When the boxes pile up and the pallet is full, he tells his supervisor
to take the pallet away and asks for an empty one. John meticulously
sweeps his area until a forklift driver delivers the new pallet.
John's been packaging hardware at Whittier for 16
years. Dave Cutler, the packaging department manager, says John loves
his job and he's good at it. Last week, John won an award for his
swivel quality control skills. "He'd be tough to replace," Cutler
says. "John's never missed a day."
John is 57 years old. He wears bifocals, a red headband
and doesn't shave. He dresses in jeans with suspenders to hold them
up, a green-checked flannel shirt and black gym shoes with Velcro.
John is also developmentally disabled. He has a severe
speech impediment that prevents most people from understanding him.
But John's disabilities have not prevented him from getting on the
bus and showing up to work on time for the past 20 years. He says
he wants to work because his brother does, and he likes having something
to do during the day. He has earned three weeks of vacation, but refuses
to take them.
The best part of his job is his co-workers, he says.
He knows all of their names, and they ride the bus to together. John
wants to work so he can buy his brother a pancake-maker for Christmas.
John's income pays his rent, his utility bills, his
medical insurance premiums, his food bills, his bus passes, his clothes
and dinner at Shari's restaurant once a week.
He's been able to support himself because he acquired
employment training at Pearl Buck Production Services two decades
ago. The Eugene-based nonprofit trains and employs developmentally
disabled adults to their highest possible skill level. Within the
last two years, the Pearl Buck staff has taught 83 adults to perform
outsourced work for more than 150 local businesses — everything
from labeling, shrink-wrapping, vacuum-sealing, folding, sorting,
weighing and assembling various products.
Pearl Buck staff also supports 96 disabled adults
in their jobs at places such as Albertson's, T.J. Maxx, DariMart and
Whittier Wood Products. Last year, Pearl Buck's workers earned $250,000
in wages and paid $43,000 in income taxes.
Through Measure 28, Oregon voters will decide if their
income taxes, and John's, should be temporarily raised so that he
can continue to work and support himself. The state Legislature designed
the ballot measure to put $313 million back into its budget.
Charles Sheketoff, the executive director of Oregon
Center for Public Policy says, "The typical Oregonian will pay less
than $6 a month in extra taxes over the three years the temporary
tax increase will be in effect." If voters reject Measure 28, the
state will slash funds, mostly from education and health care programs.
The Department of Human Services' budget for the developmentally
disabled will be hacked by a staggering $26 million. This will eliminate
the employment and residential support services that John and 5,000
other adults currently receive. Pearl Buck will take a near lethal
budget hit.
As the center begins its 50th year of service to Eugene,
it will lose more than $160,000 in funding during the first months
of 2003, says Executive Director Stephen Kohn. Several staff positions
will be cut, and 46 disabled workers will lose their jobs. John Hitt
will be one of them.
Currently, John works three days a week at Pearl Buck
and two days a week at Whittier. He receives ongoing training and
support from Marlene Radice, a Pearl Buck employment consultant. Radice
makes regular visits to Whittier during John's work shifts. She hands
him padded envelopes and asks him how he's doing. She asks if he's
having problems at work or if everything is going OK. She checks in
with Dave Cutler. While Radice reminds John to watch out for the forklifts
and how to lift heavy boxes without injuring his back, he hides her
car keys so she can't leave. John likes the attention he gets from
Radice, but lets her go when he looks at the clock and sees the lunch
bell is about to ring.
When John's eight-hour shift ends, he takes the bus
home again. His apartment is like any other home. A floral print sofa
and matching chair face an old Zenith TV. His bowling trophies sit
on the shelf above it. John's bike leans against the kitchen wall
next to the back door. His cats act like they own the place: They
jump on his lap, then cry to be let out, then pounce on the window
to be let back in, then run upstairs and hide.
A few hours per week, Rod A. Vigil visits John at
home. Vigil works for Alvord Taylor, a local independent living program
for disabled adults. He writes John's checks to pay bills and balances
his checkbook. He takes John to Safeway and doctor's appointments,
talks to the landlord if the sink's backed up and makes sure John's
nighttime respirator is clean and working properly.
When Vigil goes home, John watches "Jeopardy," "The
Price is Right" and "Wheel of Fortune." But tonight, Vigil stays longer
than usual to talk to John about Measure 28 and what will happen if
Oregon voters reject it. John has already heard about Measure 28 from
Kohn. The director explained the measure to Pearl Buck workers because
they should be aware of what's going on, he says. John simply understands
that his jobs are at stake.
He also understands that a balanced budget is just
like what Vigil does with his checkbook every month. What is harder
to explain, is that if Measure 28 fails, John's entire infrastructure
also fails. Funding cuts to Pearl Buck and Alvord Taylor will force
these organizations to lay off employees, leaving John with no one
to help him at work, no one to help him pay his bills, budget his
money or keep his medications in order. Tim Kral, the executive director
of the Oregon Rehabilitation Association, predicts people like John
"will most likely become homeless fairly quickly."
As Vigil talks about Measure 28 and the future, John
becomes angry. "I want to work at Pearl Buck." John's voice gets louder,
and his face reddens. "I want to work at Pearl Buck." Vigil tells
him there's no reason to be angry, he's just talking.
But John has every reason to be angry. If Measure
28 fails, he will likely lose his jobs, his income, his home, his
sense of self worth. He can't fill out a job application. He can't
even read the local classified ads to find another job. And Whittier
Wood Products can't employ him without the ongoing support of Pearl
Buck's community employment program.
Currently, Pearl Buck and Whittier give John the routine
and structure he needs to survive. On Feb. 1, the day after Measure
28 is projected to fail and budget cuts take effect, John's routine
might change forever. A "no" vote on 28 will be devastating to John,
says Vigil. "He'll be totally lost."
Vigil's biggest worry concerns John's respirator,
a device John wears when he sleeps so he won't stop breathing. A malfunction
due to improper cleaning or maintenance could be lethal. "If he loses
services …"
"I want to keep my job," Johns says quietly. Vigil
answers, "I want to keep my job, too, buddy."
 Statewide
Squeeze
Among the state programs facing severe cuts if Measure
28 doesn't pass are the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Services Division and the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs.
These areas are already drastically underfunded —
those in need of certain services must wait up to two years for an
institutional bed or drug treatment program, by which time they often
end up on the street or in prison. Further cuts in services will basically
shut this population out of possible recovery.
And who will pick up the people? Certainly not the
hundreds of laid-off state and county employees who work at the agencies
that used to serve them — they'll have their own burdens to
carry.
Overall, the state is looking at the following cuts
in those specific services, to name just a few, if Measure 28 does
not pass:
Fiscal
Year 2001-03
- Mental health: $12,599,444
- Developmental disabilities: $20,197,298
- Alcohol and drug treatment programs: $1,718,911
Further budget cuts will be take effect in July 2003,
resulting in these long-term projected cuts:
Fiscal
Year 2003-05
- Mental health $36,627,990
- Developmental disabilities $138,935,256
- Alcohol and drug treatment Programs $6,754,936
Looking only at those with developmental disabilities,
a total of 5,512 people may lose services, including 3,885 people
currently enrolled and 1,627 people who've been waiting to receive
services.
An additional cut that will affect thousands flies
in the face of those arguing that Measure 23 (Oregon's attempt to
provide universal health care) was unnecessary due to the expansion
of the Oregon Health Plan (OHP). If Measure 28 does not pass, 38,417
people could lose their coverage. If the federal government does not
approve of that cut, then the state is looking at eliminating OHP
coverage of pharmaceutical drugs.
In addition to state alcohol and drug program cuts,
the OHP may also eliminate coverage for treatment programs. That move
will affect 9,979 people currently enrolled.
What's to be done? Service providers and state leaders
say voters must pass Measure 28. Meanwhile, local citizens are being
asked to weigh in on what to do about local addiction treatment and
prevention plans if 28 doesn't pass. In Lane County, more than 2,911
adults who received outpatient treatment services for chemical addiction
in the past year would not be eligible for those publicly funded services
after March 1, 2003.
Support for outpatient services to adults could be
reduced by more than 75 percent. The impact of this loss may result
in all of the ill effects of drug use, including: more ER visits,
more arrests, more domestic violence and child abuse, and more fatalities
from overdoses.
Those wishing to participate in planning future local
drug treatment programs can contact Peg Jennette at Lane County Health
and Human Services, 682-3777. —Aria Seligmann
Sources: Oregon Department of Human Services and Lane
County Department of Health and Human Services.
Reverse
Robin Hood
State
cuts social welfare & boosts corporate welfare.
By
Alan Pittman
In response to budget shortfalls,
the state is implementing massive cuts in social welfare programs,
cutting benefits to hundreds of thousands of the Oregon's most vulnerable
citizens and laying off thousands of caregivers. State-funded care
centers for low-income elderly and mentally ill patients have already
started to evict hundreds of residents who need help bathing, eating,
dressing and going to the bathroom.
At the same time, the state appears poised to dramatically
increase its corporate welfare programs of tax breaks and giveaways
to big companies. Gov.-elect Ted Kulongoski has said economic development
is his top priority and has tapped Neil Goldschmidt, a lobbyist for
corporate tax breaks, to lead his efforts to create a new economic
stimulus plan. State business leaders claim corporate welfare will
provide much needed new jobs in the down economy.
But critics say it doesn't make sense to eliminate
state jobs that help the poor while giving money to corporations in
the hope that they will create jobs. "The revenue loss means less
spending for state jobs, so it can have a depressing effect and make
the economy worse," says Greg LeRoy of Good Jobs First, a national
economic development watchdog group.
Corporate welfare has a bad record in Oregon. Over
the last decade, the state has given hundreds of millions of dollars
of tax breaks and cash to corporations in the name of job creation.
The state has little to show for its money. In 1990, Oregon's unemployment
rate of 5.6 percent ranked 22nd in the nation. This year, Oregon ranked
#1 in the nation with 7.5 percent jobless.
Corporate incentives through the state enterprise
zone, strategic investment and other programs have exceeded $100,000
per job. In many cases, money is given even if no new jobs are created.
The Eugene and Springfield city councils voted to give millions of
dollars to Hynix and Symantec this year while the companies cut their
local workforce.
"That's a great example of government inefficiency
and waste," says Charles Sheketoff of the Oregon Center for Public
Policy. Giving such tax breaks "is crazy in a time of economic shortfall."
When companies given breaks have added jobs, they've
mostly gone to people from out of state rather than locals. State
economist Art Ayre estimated each new job adds to the state population
by 2.3 people as people move here to fill the position. "I don't think
job creation is a likely effort to reduce unemployment," Ayre said.
Study after study has shown that corporate welfare
doesn't create jobs, but rather pays corporations for location decisions
they would have made anyway. Two-time Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters
Donald Barlett and James Steele studied corporate welfare in a 1998
Time magazine series. "It has turned politicians into bribery
specialists, and smart business people into con artists. And most
surprisingly of all, it has rarely created any new jobs."
Even studies commissioned by Associated Oregon Industries
(2001) and the state economic development department (1993) have found
that companies locate based on labor costs, transportation, skilled
workers, city size and other factors rather than tax rates.
Welfare
for People
Welfare for people is a better economic
development strategy than welfare for corporations, evidence shows.
By cutting social welfare programs, the state economy
will lose millions of federal matching funds. "It's much smarter to
spend the state dollars matched to federal dollars," Sheketoff says.
A recent study by EcoNorthwest economists showed that
Oregon could pump millions of dollars into the state economy with
a small state investment in helping people apply for food stamps.
A state expenditure of $300,000 in food stamp outreach would attract
between $0.7 million and $3.8 million in federal funds, according
to the study. In addition to providing better nutrition to poor residents,
each $1 million in federal spending would add 22 jobs to the state
economy, the study found.
Unlike corporate welfare, almost all state welfare
spending also stays in state. "You don't get much leakage," says LeRoy.
Whereas corporations often send profits from tax breaks
out of state and import out of state workers to fill the best new
jobs, 80 percent or more of state money spent on social welfare and
other programs goes to fuel the local economy, according to LeRoy.
State jobs, usually at family wages with healthcare
benefits, also create spin-off jobs in the private sector as state
workers spend their salaries at local businesses, LeRoy says.
Many state jobs also directly or indirectly help the
poor or disabled with job placement and training that creates even
more jobs (see main story).
Welfare spending also puts money into the hands of
people who are likely to immediately spend the money rather than save
it, providing a further boost to the local economy.
LeRoy says it's "just plain stupid" for states to
hand out corporate welfare while cutting spending on K-12 and higher
education. With the coming shortage of skilled labor due to the retiring
baby boom, "regions that have the most skilled labor are going to
win," he says.
Another dumb economic development strategy for the
state would be to cut income and capital gains taxes for the wealthy
while creating a sales tax that would hit the poor the hardest, says
Sheketoff. State business leaders are pushing for such tax "reform."
Kulongoski said during the governor's campaign that he supports a
capital gains tax cut but has been noncommittal on a sales tax or
other income tax cuts.
The tax cuts for the wealthy would depress the economy
by reducing spending by poorer people and the state while giving money
to wealthy individuals to sock away in savings accounts or out of
state investments, he says. "It would be awful."
Table
of Contents
| News | Views | Arts &
Entertainment
Classifieds | Personals
|
EW
Archive
|