SALEM — If you can name the number one source of income for the State of Oregon as well as the largest annual expense, you’d be more informed than 88-percent of your fellow Oregonians. A piece of legislation aims to make those financial numbers and much more available to everyone through a single website.
“Our goal is to be the most accessible state in the nation,” said Rep. Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), co-sponsor of HB 2500 ...
Archive for: February, 2009
SALEM — On Wednesday the House Rules committee heard testimony on a pair of bills that would begin to pave the way towards online voter registration and casting of ballots online for overseas absentee voters.
Both bills drew strong criticism over security fears.
“Online voting seems a little premature,” said Janice Thompson of Democracy Reform Oregon.
House Bill 2511 would mandate the Secretary of State to have an online voting system in place by 2010.
Georgette Brown, who spoke ...
SALEM — This morning two Capitol hearing rooms, one set up as overflow, were packed tighter than a Boston bar during a Red Sox vs. New York Yankees game, for a two hour public hearing that will go into extra innings on Wednesday over the proposed Malt Tax increase.
Currently, Oregon breweries pay $2.60 for each barrel of beer produced. The proposed tax rate would increase that figure to $49.61 a barrel.
Rep. Ben Cannon (D-Portland), a ...
SALEM — This morning a new revenue forecast was announced stating that Oregon currently has an $855 million shortfall. Worse news however, is the $3 billion shortfall for the next budget cycle which begins in July and continues through June of 2011.
Unlike the federal government, the state of Oregon is required to maintain a balanced budget, and as such, must eliminate the $855 million deficit before the end of the current budget cycle in June. ...
SALEM — On Monday, nearly 5,000 teachers, students and supporters of education rallied on the steps of the capitol in support of funding education through increased taxes or use of the rainy-day fund.
With the current budget shortfall, it is expected that some public schools could close as early as April, with many more closing at least a couple weeks early. Oregon already has one of the shortest school years in the nation.
“We are facing the ...
SALEM — On Tuesday, the Joint Ways and Means committee of the Oregon Legislature held a public hearing for testimony reguarding the suggested cuts to the budget for Human Services.
It was a session that was full of emotional stories of how cuts to human services like foster care, will not only hurt children, but also the economy.
Cathy Kaufmann, of Children First for Oregon, one of the first to give her testimony said that, “If (the ...
