Maurer talks taxes, economy, legislation at CJ town hall
From our weekly issue dated November 18, 2009
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass)
An informal lunchtime town hall meeting was hosted by Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass) and attended by a handful of people on Thursday, Nov. 12 at Carlos’ Mexican Restaurante in Cave Junction.
Maurer touched upon a variety of statewide issues, including recent revelations of abuses involving the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program. An investigation by The Oregonian newspaper found that state officials deliberately underestimated the cost of the program, which provided millions of dollars in subsidies to failed firms.
It’s “very common” for state agencies to “play with the numbers” to achieve a desired outcome, Maurer said, whether it’s to encourage or discourage particular policies.
“We know that goes on,” Maurer said.
Legislators passed a bill to limit the BETC program, Maurer said, but it was vetoed by Gov. Kulongoski. He added that he’s uncomfortable with the idea of the state using such incentives to boost favored industries at the expense of others.
Maurer discussed problems with the $175 million stimulus package passed by legislators earlier this year. Legislative leaders initially claimed the package would create 3,000 jobs, but it was later discovered that most of the positions resulting from its passage lasted only a few weeks, and were far fewer than initially predicted.
“The stimulus has been invisible and a failure,” Maurer said. “It was creating government jobs. But governments don’t create jobs.”
In response to declining tax revenues, the Legislature voted to increase corporate and personal income tax rates earlier this year. A signature drive to challenge those increases was successful, resulting in a special Jan. 26 referendum on Measure 66 and Measure 67.
Maurer said that he thinks both measures will be rejected by voters.
“I see the tax vote being killed,” he said. “It’s going to get walloped.”
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The state’s next revenue forecast is scheduled for Jan. 15. Maurer offered no opinion as to what those figures ultimately will look like, but said that the budget will be the dominant topic of the February legislative session.
Federal stimulus dollars were largely used to prop up Oregon’s state government, Maurer said, which grew despite the dramatic drop in revenue.
He noted, “We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. We’re still expanding state government.”
Democrats currently hold a super-majority in the state House and Senate, but Maurer said that is due to the “tsunami” created by the campaign and candidacy of Barack Obama during the 2008 election. He added that Oregon Republicans have had an easier time recruiting quality candidates for the 2010 election cycle after this year’s legislative session “because they saw what was going on.”
Maurer said that a series of town hall meetings and tea party protests held during the summer indicate a resurgence among conservative voters, who had become largely disenfranchised with the policies of the Bush administration throughout the past few years.
“I think that bodes well,” he said.
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