In the last session, the Oregon State Legislature raised taxes and fees by $1.6 billion. The tax increase paid for a 7% increase in state spending from the previous biennium At the budget’s current growth rate, Oregon will have a $100 billion budget within 20 years. The tax increases are bad for Oregonians, but the real crime is the failure in leadership that would allow a budget to grow at three times the rate of inflation. Spending has grown so fast that Oregon’s recession prone economy can’t grow fast enough to keep paying for it. At these levels, state spending is currently unsustainable. We need to change how the state does business. We need to rethink government.

Budgetary Reform

Pass the Education Budget First: Currently, education is one of the state’s biggest expenditures. School Boards around the state need a complete budget from the state to be able to plan their budgets. In a bad year, schools may re-do budgets multiple times because the state doesn’t pass the budget in a timely manner. We need to show that schools are a priority. I would support Sen. Atkinson’s call to pass the education budget first.

Put the Budget on-line: The state should put its entire budget and the monthly expenses on-line. We should promote transparency by showing Oregonians how their money is spent. A transparent, on-line budget makes waste and inefficiencies easier to find.

Define Terms: We should define how the legislature uses the terms “budget shortfall” and “budget deficit”. In 2009, the legislature often spoke of a shortfall when the budget rose by 9% from the previous biennium. State politicians often use shortfall to refer to the difference between what the budget is and what we would like it to be. It should refer to the difference between tax income to the state and the previous budget. This prevents the legislature from misusing “shortfall” to justify increases taxes and fees that are being used for additional spending.

Change the Starting Line: Currently, the budget starts with what is called the Effective Budget Level. The Budget Office estimates the level of spending required to do the same activities as the last budget. In 2009, the EBL was 13% higher than the previous budget. Why can’t we start the conversation with the previous budget? Or, simply give an inflation adjusted number? We can’t start the conversation 13% higher than the previous budget and remain fiscally disciplined.

Structural Reform

Hire a State Treasurer: The Oregon State Treasurer is responsible for managing most of the financial investments of the state. He manages issuing State Bonds, the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), and College Savings accounts. Campaigns for State Treasurer are focused on political issues not financial issues. Candidates aren’t required to have basic financial skills.

We can change the system to allow for the state to hire a Treasurer. Under this reform, the Governor would appoint a State Treasurer that would be confirmed by the legislature. Oregon’s State Treasurer will have the financial skills to manage our assets. A Treasurer, who is an employee, is also more immediately accountable for poor performance.

Reform the Per Diem expenses for the State Legislature: Under Oregon Law, the members of the state legislature receive a per diem or a daily allowance for expenses while the legislature is in session. All legislators receive the same per diem regardless of if they are from Hermiston or Salem. For legislators that live close to Salem, the fixed per diem acts as additional pay because they stay at home during the session and so they don’t use all of their per diem allowance. Legislators that live away from Salem aren’t reimbursed at higher rate to pay for the additional expense that the distance provides. To deal with this, politicians are able to reimburse those expenses from their campaign PAC funds. This provides a situation where politicians may benefit directly from campaign donations without oversight.

The state needs to address a couple of things. First, the state needs to reimburse expenses by forcing legislators to turn in receipts. If we replace the per diem allowance with expense reimbursement, we would only pay money to legislators to reimburse expenses. Second, the state should ban the use of PAC money to purchase gifts for state legislative committees or to reimburse expenses not related to campaigning. If the state pays expenses fairly, then there is no need to allow PAC money to pay legislators for expenses. Third, an expense reimbursement plan can easily be monitored and approved by the caucus leaders. By using the leaders, we can provide common sense, practical application while balancing privacy concerns.

Create an appointed State Clerk Position: Currently, the Secretary of State monitors and enforces election law in this state. It is one of many duties that is performed under the office. The secretary of state is a partisan election with four year terms. In practice, this means the person we elect to referee the elections process is a member of one of the teams. The Mariners wouldn’t let one of the Yankees be the umpire when they came to town. Elected officials should work together to hire an unbiased umpire when it comes to enforcing election rules. We would be crazy not to.

If you’re going to change a Measure, send it back to the voters: Good leaders make decisions that build confidence among followers. Oregonians have always complained about the amount of changes that their legislators make to measures that are passed by the voters. No one has ever said that measures passed by voters are 100% error free. A lot of legislation passed by Salem or the voters has unintended consequences. This is an opportunity for the legislature to build trust. If they need to make a change to a voter-approved measure, they should refer it back to the people. They should go back to their boss. Explain the problem. Explain how you want to address it. Argue how your ideas better fit with their intentions. Show your leadership skills by being humble.

The 72-Hour Rule: Borrow from Rep. Walden’s petition to Congress. Provide a 72-hour waiting period to allow people to read the bill. I don’t think this is a huge issue in Salem, but it is in Washington.

Call special elections to fill empty seats: Under Oregon law, empty seats in the legislature are filled by appointment. The process requires that members of the same party replace the departing legislator. The goal is to not alter the balance of power.

In practice, legislators retire or resign prior to their term of office ending. This allows their replacement to be chosen, and keeps the seat from being open during the next election cycle. Incumbents have a much higher change of winning than their opponents. This practice keeps the number of truly open seats down to a minimum. Neither party wants to risk seats when there is a built in way to protect them.

The state should begin to hold special elections to replace departing members. We should give voters a choice though elections when their representatives retire instead of letting parties stack the deck. Elections cost money. However, if we take away the political advantage to resigning prior to elections being held, then I bet most people will retire at the next scheduled election.

Conclusion

The list above is by no means a complete list. It is a starting point for the conversation about genuine political reform at this stage. We all have discussions about reform. Lists like this start with friends and neighbors in bars, over dinner, and at football games. We need to bring these lists to the legislature. The 2010 election is a call to action. Our state cannot continue to do what we have always done. We simply won’t survive.