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No
More Cuts "The fewer people that you have to talk to, the fewer
people there are who can say 'No'." "We can't fund the moon this session. It's not just
about money and services. It's votes, it's compromise." Telling comments from the leadership of the House. Seems the Speaker can't get past $5 billion for education, even though the Democrats in the House and Senate are saying that amount should be $5.5 billion to get us back to where we had intended to be in the last biennium. And she has very little for human services. She's negotiating with her own caucus, not with everyone else in the Capitol, that's the problem. I went to Salem this year with one goal: Do no further harm. To schools, community colleges, universities, public safety, programs for the working poor, the disabled, seniors; I've had it‚ we did enough damage in the six special sessions. No more cuts to programs. The session is winding down. A group of 20 has devolved to a group of three - Senate President Peter Courtney, Speaker of the House Karen Minnis, and Teddy the Guv. But they ain't makin' headway, they're stalled at the corral; they don't know whether to suck elm or drool, as Rayna would say. My goodness, it cain't get more simple, Karen. You're the Republican leader, you're the one who can show us what you're willing to fund. You're in charge; revenue bills have to emanate from the House. Tell us what you're willing to pay for, and how you want to pay for it; we Democrats will either be there or we won't. Pretty simple: we cain't keep dancin' forever. We're running close to Larry Campbell's longest disastrous session in history — when he kept everyone there until the air-conditioning went out on August 7th and everyone left unhappy on August 8th. Please Karen, don't do this to us. Has anyone noticed: The Governor's only had to issue two or three vetoes so far. Remember Kitzhaber's record? Why so few, now? In part because of the balance in the Senate: Bad bills haven't moved forward. Most controversial bills are locked up — cougar, bear, wolf, timber, land use, abortion, water rights, medical malpractice — fading away in committees that are either closed or closing. The budget is the only fair game. The last PERS piece, the successor retirement plan for future public employees, will be on the floor on Monday. As I write this column I don't know what the outcome of the vote will be. I hope it will pass out of the Senate and over to the House. Majority Leader Knopp says he won't concur with the plan we send over; he'll force it into a conference committee. The House will send three conferees, two Republicans and one Democrat. The Senate will send two conferees — one Republican and one Democrat. Guess who that will be? My General Government vice-chair, Senator John Minnis, and moi. A bill can't get out of conference committee unless a majority of both chambers vote affirmatively. Hmmm? John and I both know the hit that public workers' pensions have taken from HB2003 and HB2004. We're trying to get both chambers to "yes" on this plan. The successor plan, as it exists in the Senate version, is a hybrid system — part defined contribution, part defined benefit — a compromise that was hammered out among the public employer/business coalition, the governor, and the public sector union coalition. Splinters from all sides — from the Special Districts to the Oregon School Employees Association to the Association of Oregon Industries — will not support any compromise. Rayna deTortuga and her sidekick, Wrigley — representing the employers and business interests — are now being called "sellouts." The same is true for Margaret Hallock, the Guv, and I: We're "sellouts," too. I think that means the plan is a fair compromise. As Mike Salsgiver, representing the Portland Business Alliance, said, "We will not sacrifice the achievable on the altar of the perfect." Salsgiver is a class act; after his testimony he told me he was getting a button made: DCBA. I thought it was a new-age masters degree program. Apparently Rayna had let Mike listen to a voice mail I left her expressing my frustration at certain business interests in the building who kept insisting that we stick public employees with a pathetic 401K plan. I mentioned something about those "defined contribution business a———-s". A DCBA is born. Stay tuned‚ the end is near‚ really! Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 4, which includes the UO area. He can be reached at sen.tonycorcoran@state.or.us
Full-on
Fourth Is Lane County unpatriotic? Last week, when the Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution protesting portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, a few critics complained that we shouldn't be opposing our nation's government two days before the Fourth of July. One critic sent me an e-mail suggesting that Lane County should be renamed "The People's Republic of Lane County." (Hey, that's better than the name the critics usually call us: "Lame County.") Another guy said, "I'll bet Lane County likes the Son of Sam better than Uncle Sam." After hearing this criticism, I was particularly interested to see how Lane County residents would celebrate the Fourth of July this year. My first stop was the festival in Creswell. I've always been impressed by the wholesome Fourth of July celebration in this small town, and 2003 was no exception. Hundreds of people showed up to enjoy barbequed chicken, patriotic music, and kids' games. The growing Latino population in Creswell was well represented at the festival. My visit to Creswell had a few glitches. When I introduced my three-year-old son to one of my constituents, my son proclaimed, "Daddy, that man has a big belly." What do you say in a situation like that? "Sorry, sir, but these kids were raised by wolves and left on our doorstep two months ago." (Last year, when I was throwing candy to the crowd during the parade in Oakridge, my older son ran around behind me scooping up the candy before the Oakridge kids could get it.) After our family left the festival in Creswell, we went to Alton Baker Park for the Art & the Vineyard entertainment and fireworks. While I was roaming around the park, a lot of people came up to me and commended the Board for our resolution on the PATRIOT ACT. A few people of color mentioned that they felt more comfortable now that the Board has expressed opposition to racial and religious profiling. The festival at Alton Baker Park showcased the diversity of our county. Our family watched a children's dance troupe perform Ukrainian dances in authentic costume. The troupe included kids whose ancestry traced to both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. What a great example of the inclusive values that we celebrate on the Fourth of July. The headline act was the Satin Love Orchestra. These guys must have made a deal with the devil to play funk music that well. Guitarist Joe Weber was decked out in an Uncle Sam costume. My boys loved the show. My youngest son had a serious case of the booty-shakes. During the intermission, some kids took the stage and sang the national anthem. They missed a lot of notes — where's Maurice Cheeks when you need him? — but the crowd went wild. The fireworks at Alton Baker Park always send chills down my spine. This year there wasn't much difference in the scale of the official fireworks show and the fireworks that kids were lighting off near the duck pond. Those ducks should get hazard pay on the Fourth of July. I can't believe that it's so easy for the public to buy massive fireworks in Oregon. If George Bush still can't find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he should just drive to ShopKo, Safeway, or any other grocery store in Eugene. Uncle Sam may have been shaking his head when Lane County opposed the PATRIOT Act on July 2, but Uncle Sam was definitely shaking his money-maker on the stage at Alton Baker Park two days later. Judging by the enthusiasm I saw on the Fourth, I'd say the critics better think twice before they impugn the patriotism of Lane County. And the Board of County Commissioners' action last week didn't erode what makes our county great. We affirmed it. Tom Lininger is the county commissioner for the East Lane District.
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