Maurer talks budget alternatives at town hall
From our weekly issue dated May 20, 2009
Cave Junction Mayor Don Moore thanks Maurer for his assistance which allowed the city to pass an ordinance banning public drinking. (PHoto by MIchelle Binker, Illinois Valley News)
It was a beautiful Saturday morning in late spring. Cloudless, warm and green. Little wonder then that little more than a dozen people should elect to spend the morning discussing state budget issues. The little town hall-style meeting took place in Cave Junction City Hall on May 16.
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass) spent somewhat more than an hour with constituents, listening to concerns and discussing the Oregon Republican “Back to Basics” budget proposal for the 2009-11 biennium. The formula was presented as an alternative to the budget document presented by co-chairs on the Ways and Means committee on April 17.
The proposal essentially holds the budgets for most state agencies services at their 2007-09 levels. The essential difference, Maurer explained, is that rather than rely on increased revenue from new taxes, the Republican proposal would find cash from savings realized in “program savings,” a freeze on pay raises and administrative cuts. Also, roughly half a billion dollars would come from unassigned funds in the state’s $70 billion reserve account. The bulk of that account is Public Employee Retirement (PERS) fund money, and cannot be touched, Maurer said.
Maurer explained that in creating their budget document, the Democratic leadership determines what’s called an Essential Budget Level (EBL) which is how much money would be spent if all programs and raises rolled forward unchanged. Using that figure, Democrats have projected a revenue shortfall of nearly $3.6 billion for 2009-11.
“In my view, the EBL is a fantasy,” said Maurer.
“As a business owner I have to say, ‘How much revenue do I expect to come in and how much do I have in the bank?’ and based on those two numbers, you make your budget and decide how much you want to spend.
“Oregon doesn’t do it that way,” he continued. “They say, ‘This is how much we want to spend,’ and then they have to go out and get it.”
Maurer expects the state to pursue other forms of revenue, from taxes on hospital expenses and health insurance premiums, a six-cent per gallon gasoline tax, higher vehicle registration and licensing fees.
While the issue, Maurer said is “we are drowning in debt,” some $911 million in funding from the federal government is found in the proposed state budget. And while Maurer stated that he believes that borrowed money is wrong, he acknowledged that there was little he could do to change it.
“Regardless of what you think of the federal stimulus,” he said, “the money is coming. The governor said he’s going to take it. You don’t throw it away, you don’t burn it.
“It doesn’t do anybody any good not to think about the best way to use it,” Maurer said. Cave Junction Mayor Don Moore took time to thank Maurer for his assistance with the passage of a municipal ordinance to combat public drinking.
At the state capitol in Salem, Maurer arranged for the executive director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to testify that the organization would not object to such an ordinance.
Concerns about possible litigation by the ACLU caused city attorney Pat Kelly to have reservations about the ban.
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