Hundreds of Oregonians crowded into a Portland Community College hall on a rare sunny Saturday to ask lawmakers to fund the programs that have made a difference in their lives.
Their message to lawmakers suggests that cutting funding to public schools, colleges, early childhood education or child welfare programs will face huge push-back from advocates from those programs, even as lawmakers are forced by budget realities to make selective cuts.
Those who got the chance to speak each had two minutes to make their case. Some wept, their voices shaking as they spoke. Others blamed the legislators for the $1.8 billion budget gap facing the state. Nearly all begged the lawmakers to raise new revenue by taxing corporations.
Saturday’s town hall, held at PCC’s Sylvania campus in Southwest Portland, is one of seven to be held throughout state by the Legislature’s budget-writing committee to garner input from residents on the state’s financial situation. The town hall was presided over by a panel of more than 20 lawmakers, mostly members of the budget committee and Portland-area Democrats.
Pleas to fund education dominated much of the two-hour meeting.
The first person to testify was Allison Gross, a teacher at PCC. She said she thinks Oregonians voted against Measure 97 because they lacked the adequate education needed to fully understand the measure.
“It’s time for you to address head-on the failures of our tax system,” she told lawmakers. “I’m tired of explaining to my daughter why there isn’t more art and music available for her in school,” she said, her voice breaking.
“I’m tired of seeing people who have worked hard their whole lives continue to work long hours unable to retire because they can’t afford to. I’m tired of unchecked capitalism that allows the rich to get richer at the expense of the rest of us.” Here, cheers from the crowd drowned out her words. “And I’m tired of your excuses,” she told lawmakers.
Other teachers who spoke referenced Oregon’s “shameful” 75 percent graduation rate, large class sizes and short school years. If funding isn’t increased to maintain the current service level, Oregon’s education problems will worsen further, they said.
Many of those who testified asked legislators to give the state’s public colleges $100 million more than the governor’s proposed budget allocated. This would keep tuition increases at or below 5 percent, they said.
Robin Hahnel, a Portland State University economics professor, didn’t waste time in criticizing the lawmakers.
“I came here today to say that you have created a huge economic mess,” he said. “Oregon is on a fast track to become Appalachia West. For lack of adequate funding, you have allowed K-12 funding for public education in Oregon to deteriorate to deplorable levels.”
Hahnel said the state is committing “economic suicide” by underfunding education, healthcare and public infrastructure.
“Corporations doing business in Oregon do not pay anywhere close to their fair share of taxes. It’s that simple,” he said, as the crowd burst into applause.
While most speakers agreed that corporations should pay more taxes, one argued that voters are at least partially to blame for Oregon’s budget problems.
“We the citizens are partially responsible for breaking (Oregon’s tax system),” said Rob Fullmer, a Portland State IT specialist who has served on the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
Voters, he said, passed unfunded mandates — they passed three last year in the form of measures 96, 98 and 99 — as well as Measure 5 back in 1990.
Measure 5 slashed property tax revenue and shifted much of the burden of school funding to state income taxes.
“Individual taxpayers are pulling their weight in this state, we know that,” Fullmer said. “But unless big corporations do the same, it’s going to mean huge cuts to schools and services. We’ve been here before, we’ll be here again unless we do something to fix it.”
Dozens of people made their case for funding the services and programs most important to them.
A veteran who said he had attempted suicide asked for continued funding for veteran resource centers on college campuses. Those resource centers save lives, he said.
A worker for the Native American Youth and Family Center asked for money to support culturally specific early learning programs. She also asked the lawmakers to support Senate Bill 13, which would develop curriculum about the Native American experience in Oregon.
She said she still hears horror stories from Oregon schools, from kids playing “cowboys and Indians” to classes making paper headdresses to celebrate Thanksgiving.
“I even heard a white child tell a Native American child, ‘You can’t be a Native American because they are all dead.’ Then we wonder why Native students drop out of school at such disproportionate rates.”
Upcoming town halls The state’s Joint Ways & Means Committee has already held meetings in Salem and Portland, but has five more town halls on the budget scheduled in various cities throughout Oregon in the coming weeks. Hermiston 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17
Hermiston High School
Main Commons
600 S 1st Street Madras 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18
Madras High School
Performing Arts Center
390 SE 10th Street Ashland 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24
Southern Oregon University
Stevenson Union, Rogue River Room
1250 Siskiyou Blvd. Eugene 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25
Lane Community College
Forum (Building 17), Rooms 308-309
4000 E 30th Ave. Tillamook 6-8 p.m. Friday, Mar. 3
Port of Tillamook Bay
Officers Mess Hall
6825 Officers Row
Other speakers asked lawmakers for funding for Medicaid, regulatory reform on industrial emissions testing and services that allow seniors to live at home.
A pair of speakers from Tax Fairness Oregon asked legislators not to pass any tax breaks for corporations or the wealthy.
One person even proposed a sales tax, with the proceeds going just to fund education.
Only one speaker touched on the state’s public pension system, which has $22 billion worth of unfunded liability.
“The legislature needs to tackle the elephant in the room as part of its budget-balancing act,” he said. “You can’t ignore PERS any longer.”
In a room filled with teachers, he didn’t get any cheers.
Tiffiny Mitchell, an office support specialist for the Department of Human Services’ child welfare division, said even she feels the ripple effect caused by the increasing workloads of caseworkers. Sometimes she feels like she can’t take a lunch, she said.
“I feel that losing even 10 minutes could be unthinkable,” she said. “I understand your desire to cut extra flesh to help the budget, and I support you in that. But how do you go further than the bone, which is where we’re already at? You can’t, unless you amputate a limb.”
Near the end of the town hall meeting, Jennifer Jones, a member of the Eastside Portland Air Coalition, said she couldn’t ask the lawmakers to fund emissions testing reform at the expense of veterans services, education or healthcare.
“How is it possible to choose, for any of us, who will live and who will die?” she asked. “We need real tax reform in the state of Oregon. We need corporations to pay their fair share. And we need the corporate taxes to make up the budget shortfall.”
— Anna Marum
amarum@oregonian.com
503-294-5911
@annamarum
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