NEWS FROM OREGON DEMOCRATIC ELECTED OFFICALS
Oregon first must build a foundation for rebuilding
July 25, 2010
Recently The Oregonian challenged the candidates for governor to say what they would do about the fact that Oregon's state government does not have the money to provide services the same way we do now.
Changes in the size, scope, structure and cost of state government must be accompanied by equally important changes in our approach to job creation. During my two terms as governor, we created over 125,000 jobs in Oregon, wages rose by 49 percent, and our state gross annual product rose by 48 percent. As the only candidate with direct experience creating jobs, expanding Oregon businesses and bringing new business investment into Oregon, I have offered a detailed plan to do just that. I am also developing the Oregon Recapitalization Plan with state Treasurer Ted Wheeler to keep Oregon investment capital in Oregon for our small and medium-sized businesses.
Next year will be perhaps the most difficult in Oregon's history because we are at the low point in state revenue and at the high point in social need. Here is a realistic, step-by-step approach to meet the challenge.
We must use 2011 to bring our resources and expenditures back into balance in a way that provides a solid foundation on which we can rebuild. We need to view our next budget not in terms of how we "cut" $2 billion but rather how we take the revenue we have and invest it as the first step in a prioritized reinvestment plan. That means an end to short-term thinking that lurches from crisis to crisis -- and a new beginning: I will change how we budget and spend by moving to a 10-year budget framework that allows us to invest, achieve and measure results over the long term.
Our most important long-term investment -- education -- is the largest part of the state budget. We must consolidate all educational investment into a unified, transparent, performance-based budget to target our limited resources to maximize student achievement over the next two years. This will provide schools with a "funding floor" they can count on going forward. Inadequate revenue is a huge problem, but the inability to know from month to month how much money a district can count on makes budget management almost impossible. Stability and certainty is what our schools need.
Second, districts must keep current reserves in place and partner with employees to lower costs and gain flexibility in contracts to achieve savings and make structural changes in service delivery. That includes shifting some local functions to a regional level in rural areas and eliminating some educational service districts in urban areas.
Third, public employee compensation -- particularly the projected increase in employers' PERS costs and cost sharing in health care -- must be addressed to preserve the current parity between public and private sector workers. The priority should be to protect frontline services by addressing management pay, positions and the ratio of managers to workers. These savings must extend to education by placing conditions on the money the state sends to local school districts about how those resources will be used. Similar structural changes will be required within our postsecondary system.
We must also significantly lower our costs in the areas of public safety and human services. We can do that by re-evaluating our sentencing policies, continuing investments in early childhood and family support, and preserving services to the frail elderly who otherwise will be forced into more expensive care. Finally, we must dramatically reduce the cost of energy and health care.
My opponent has a well-rehearsed set of talking points but has ducked every opportunity to defend them in a public forum. And it has only been in the last eight months that he has shown any interest in the plight of middle-class families, public education, the frail elderly, or the heavy lifting involved with economic development and job creation.
These are difficult times and Oregon needs a leader who understands not only where we need to go but also where we have been. We need a leader who understands and is committed to Oregon. I was raised here; I have worked here all my life. As a doctor, a legislator and a governor, I have dedicated most of my adult life to Oregon and to Oregonians -- and particularly to the middle-class families who work hard trying to build a better future for their children.
