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Oregon Lawmakers Await Key Revenue Forecast

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The May revenue forecast is a critical piece of information for lawmakers as they decide how to spend taxpayer dollars during the next two-year budget cycle.

Tuesday Oregon lawmakers will get an update on the state's financial outlook.

Coming into the forecast, there's a $1.6 billion gap between what lawmakers are currently expecting and what state agencies say it will take to continue services at their current levels. That gap could shrink or grow bigger, depending on what the forecast from state economists says.

Lawmakers are likely to cover the shortfall by some combination of reducing state services and increasing taxes. They're debating whether to overhaul the way the state taxes businesses. That could bring in additional dollars, though majority Democrats would need some Republican support for the proposal to become law.

Copyright 2017 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.