2009 Update – Issues that matter
Dear Friends,
There is little doubt the 2009 Legislative Session was fraught with challenges. Given the toughest budget situation in generations, we faced a series of hard choices. Charting Oregon’s course through the current economic crisis required real leadership. For my part, as a member of the state’s chief budget-writing committee, I focused on crafting a prudent, pay-as-you-go budget, and on enhancing job and business creation.
Our community and the State of Oregon continue to suffer from a global economic crisis. We continue to experience high unemployment, record home foreclosures, serious hunger and health care issues, and a high rate of business closures. In this situation, we experienced the worst decline in state revenues since the Great Depression, and had the unprecedented task of both balancing the current budget and re-balancing the 2007-2009 budget.
Just like Oregon families are doing, we started by tightening our own budget belt. This meant making over $2 billion in cuts to various state agencies. The budget will lead to an estimated 1,700 state employee layoffs and freeze many, if not most, state workers’ salaries. We also invested all of the available federal stimulus dollars and most of our state reserve funds to protect essential services. But these actions alone weren’t enough. We still faced a budget gap that threatened unconscionable cuts to education, public safety and health care. To avoid the worst consequences of this fiscal crisis, we enacted new revenue.
In essence, we asked large corporations and households making over $250,000 a year to contribute a bit more. We also increased the $10 corporate minimum tax—paid by over 60% of corporations—for the first time since 1931. This revenue package will generate about $270 million over the next two years. To put that number in perspective, we made budget cuts of over twice that amount—over $2 billion—during the same period. Some of the changes we enacted will be permanent; others will be temporary.
Here are some of the highlights of what we accomplished:
ISSUES THAT MATTER TO WASHINGTON COUNTY
AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Approximately 34% of households in the county have very low, low, or moderate incomes and a significant percentage of these face some housing issue.
- HB2436: I helped lead a number of efforts to protect Oregon’s most vulnerable citizens this session, most notably, by coordinating passage of the Housing Opportunity Act of 2009. This Act will provide an ongoing, dedicated revenue source for affordable housing, benefitting low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities and others left behind by the housing market.
JOB TRAINING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: In these uncertain times, training today’s workforce requires bold new thinking. I am proud to have crafted two measures that will help many Oregonians get the training they need to attain solid, family-wage jobs.
- HB3093: Creates up to four new applied bachelor’s degree programs. Once implemented, this bill will expand educational opportunities for many Oregonians, especially those with terminal credentials or Associate’s degrees, and help them maximize their earning potential.
- HB3300: Kick-starts the development of a green jobs initiative designed to align training opportunities with high-wage, high-demand professions. Many of these jobs are ‘middle-skill’ jobs in the building trades that require more than a high school education, but less than a college degree. This bill will help these Oregonians transition from 20th-century blue-collar jobs to 21st-century green collar jobs.
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS: We worked diligently to create jobs, in part, by making smart investments in our neglected state transportation system. We have an estimated annual backlog of $800 million worth of maintenance needs on our state highway system alone. This lack of investment contributes to congestion, hinders commerce and economic development, and erodes our quality of life.
- HB2001: I partnered with State Sen. Bruce Starr and other legislators across the aisle to help develop the Jobs & Transportation Act of 2009. This measure will not only fund critical multi-modal transportation improvements, it’s estimated to support an average of 4,600 jobs per year over the next ten years or about 23,000 full-time annual jobs.
- Projects for Washington County: Nearly $2 million in new investment every year to improve the streets of Hillsboro and over $9 million every year to enhance Washington County roads. In addition, the state will make a $32 million investment in the US 26/Glencoe Road interchange. We will invest $20 million to build a new travel lane in each direction on US 26 from Cornell to 185th, and capitalize on $45 million to add a new loop ramp to serve Shute Road.
CREATING & SAVING JOBS
- HB 2116 will allow Oregon to utilize $2 billion in federal matching funds over the next four years by creating 3,000 ongoing jobs in the thriving health care sector and provide health coverage to 95% of Oregon kids and tens of thousands additional adults.
- SB 338 was passed early in the session; it will create nearly 3,000 jobs. This $174 million job stimulus and investment package makes long-term investments in Oregon’s future by supplying funds for much needed upgrades at the state’s centers of higher learning and other public spaces.
GOVERNMENT EFFICIENTY & ACCOUNTABILITY: State government tightened its belt, making tax dollars go further and streamlining government to make it more efficient.
- HB 2500 creates a Web site that will allow Oregonians to access information about state government finances online, including revenue, expenditure, audit, and agency program information from each state agency.
- HB 2073 diverts some corporate tax revenue into Oregon’s Rainy Day Fund. Starting in 2013, the bill directs revenue collected from corporate income and excise tax rates above 6.6% to the Oregon Rainy Day Fund.
- HB 2867 requires a contracting agency to demonstrate that contracting out for goods and services will be less expensive than completing the work in-house.
- HB 2452 reorganizes the state’s economic development agency to make it more effective in retaining, expanding and attracting businesses. The agency’s renewed commitment to helping Oregon companies is reflected in its new name: the Oregon Business Development Department.
HEALTH CARE ACCESS & AFFORDABILITY: This session saw the most sweeping reform of our state’s health care system since the creation of the Oregon Health Plan. Because of the actions we took this session, Oregon will have access to about $1 billion in additional federal dollars and will facilitate health coverage for about 180,000 uninsured legal residents, including 80,000 children. At the same time, we put in motion a plan to streamline the Department of Health Services as well as a series of cost-containment measures designed to reduce health insurance costs for everyone.
- HB 2009 establishes the Oregon Health Policy Board, which will streamline certain health and health insurance functions.
- HB 2535 creates the Oregon Charitable Prescription Drug Program, which allows Oregonians to donate some types of unused medications for use by those who could otherwise not afford it.
- HB 2376 requires pharmaceutical and medical device companies to annually disclose the value, nature and purpose of any gift or payment over $500 given to health care professionals.
- HB 2433 helps Oregonians who lose their jobs keep their health coverage by providing up to 65% of the costs of staying on their former employer’s work plan, with, with assistance provided under the federal stimulus package.
Throughout the recently concluded legislative session, we endeavored to balance the short-term need to protect essential services like education, public safety and health care—which make up about 94% of the state budget—with the long-term need to create the conditions for a prosperous future. Did we craft the best state budget that can be imagined? Of course not. But I believe it is the best we could achieve given our circumstances and a properly conservative approach to budgeting. As long and hard as this economic downturn has been, it will not persist indefinitely. We worked to ameliorate its worst consequences for children, seniors and middle-class families, and at the same time, position our state to best take advantage of the inevitable economic recovery.
In a recent independent survey of Salem lobbyists, state capitol staffers and journalists, I was one of only two Metro-area state representatives to receive a rating of ‘excellent.’ I attribute this accolade to my experience as a small business owner and consequent focus on results. And I am hopeful what we accomplished this legislative session will prove to honor the past, improve the present, and secure the promise of the future.
While the legislative session was exceptionally challenging, I have been sustained by your community spirit and regular feedback. As always, it is an honor and a privilege to represent my hometown in Salem. And I look forward to continuing to work together to ensure progress and prosperity for every generation.
Regards,
Rep. David Edwards