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Oregon Governor's Budget Avoids Corporate Taxes Like Those In Failed Measure 97

Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces details of her 2017-19 budget proposal during a press conference at the State Capitol.
Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network
Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces details of her 2017-19 budget proposal during a press conference at the State Capitol.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown rolled out a two-year spending plan Thursday at the State Capitol. The proposal tackles a $1.7 billion budget shortfall with a mix of program cuts and tax hikes.

The governor's budget includes what she calls "painful cuts" to state services. Those are cuts that likely would have been avoided if voters had approved Measure 97, the corporate tax hike on last month's ballot.

Brown's proposal does include some tax increases: A higher tobacco tax, a tax on hospitals, and getting rid of a tax break for some kinds of businesses. But all told those tax hikes would raise less than one-sixth of what Measure 97 would have brought in.

Brown, a Democrat, said she's still talking with business and labor groups about how to raise more revenue.

"Oregon governors and legislative leadership have struggled to find the right solution,” she said. “I am hoping that over the next several months -- possibly years -- that we can find that right solution."

The governor's spending proposal is a starting point for what will be a months-long budget crafting process involving state lawmakers.

Some of those lawmakers weighed in on the governor's budget plan. Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat, said Brown's proposal "will definitely prompt debate, and it should."

He said the legislature's budget-writing committee will seek public input on a statewide series of public hearings.

"It has never been more important for Oregonians to decide which priorities we value most and just how much we value them," Courtney said.

Republicans, who hold the minority in both legislative chambers, blamed the cuts in the proposed budget on "overspending" by Democrats. In a statement, House GOP leader Mike McLane said "Until we are willing to … address the root of our budget problems, we will continue to experience the same kind of budget challenges we are facing today."

Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.
Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.