FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2009
Contact: Michael Cox (503) 986-1904
House Republicans Offer More of the Same:
Partisan Politics, Stale Ideas
SALEM – This year, House Republicans have sponsored several bills, among them HB 3469, that would lead to massive cuts in vital services Oregonians depend on, like education, healthcare and public safety. Preferring political theatre to the hard work of finding real solutions, the leadership of the House Republican Minority today attempted to make an end around the committee process and bring HB 3469 to the House floor.
As the House Ways and Means Committee has heard from Oregonians in Lincoln City and Portland about the budget, it is clear that people around the state are concerned about protecting basic services.
“We heard from parents saying keep our schools open, from advocates for drug treatment and mental health services, and those urging protections for our community colleges,” said House Majority Leader Mary Nolan (D-SW Portland). “Apparently some in this chamber have not been listening.”
Weeks ago, House Republicans were asked to step up and help move Oregon forward by identifying responsible cuts and finding ways to generate real new revenue in order to protect services for Oregon families.
“It is the 101st day of session, and we’re still waiting,” said Nolan.
When HB 3469 was introduced, House Democrats asked for an analysis of the numerous tax breaks for wealthy Oregonians the Republican Leadership has introduced and the use of the Oregon Tax Incidence Model (OTIM) to gauge their impact on the economy. Upon further examination, the job creation claims made by the House Republican Leadership do not hold up.
According to the memo provided by the Legislative Revenue Office: “OTIM is not a short-term forecasting model. The model starts with a basic assumption that the economy is in a long-run equilibrium position… characterized no cyclical unemployment – meaning the economy is not in recession… The model is not designed to address the current problem of very high cyclical unemployment.”
In other words, the memo reveals that the job creation claims are spurious at best. Further, the memo shows HB 3469 could in fact worsen the recession. LRO explains: “In a short term recessionary environment, tax reductions increase the size of the state budget gap, putting further downward pressure on state services. In the short term this can exacerbate the problem on insufficient demand in the state economy.”
“Job creation is the top priority of House Democrats this session,” said Nolan. “But we will create jobs through investments in our infrastructure, and leverage federal dolars to provide health care for Oregon families while putting people to work in the growing health care sector. The answer is not to follow the reckless tax cut policies of the former Bush Administration that got us into this mess in the first place.”
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