Budget Stalemates in Olympia and Salem

The economy is improving and tax revenues are up, which should make it relatively easy to balance the budget. But Oregon and Washington lawmakers are finding it anything but easy.

The Oregon legislature, which planned to adjourn by the end of June, is bracing to grind on until July. The Washington legislature just completed its first special session, which The Columbian summarized in a tweet as "30 days, 0 bills, $77,000 in per diems."

Lawmakers in both states are hung up on how to get more money for K-12 schools. 

In Olympia, lawmakers face a court mandate to increase K-12 school funding, but can't agree how to do it.

In Salem, Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach agreement on deep enough cuts to the Public Employees Retirement System and new revenue. The Oregon Senate, which Democrats control by a slim 16-14 margin, is stymied because Senator Chris Edwards, D-Springfield, has balked at passing a large enough K-12 school budget to avoid more teacher layoffs and school day reductions.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has called legislators back for a second special session to avert state government spending cuts if a budget deal isn't cut before July, when the state's new fiscal year begins.

Oregon has a similar problem, with the 2013-2015 biennial budget set to take effect July 1.

There aren't promising signs in either state the deadline will be met.

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A Grand Bargain on PERS, Public Safety

Oregon lawmakers settle in for real Monday and will quickly see, if they haven't already, that the 2013 session pivots on the outcome of two tough political decisions — modifying PERS and public safety reforms.

The legislature's only absolute duty is to approve a balanced budget and Governor Kitzhaber has teed up that task on the backs of saving a lot of money on PERS and new approaches to managing public safety. He also wants to slow the rate of growth of Medicaid and save $400 million in projected health care costs in the next biennium.

Squeezing money out of Medicaid rests on the ability of hospitals, doctors and health systems to, in Kitzhaber's words, "bend the cost curve" of the health care delivery system. But squeezing money out of PERS and Oregon’s public safety system falls squarely on the shoulders of legislators.

If there ever was a need for a grand bargain, this is it.

That's undoubtedly why legislative leaders have created a bipartisan, bicameral committee with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans to address the public safety reforms — or, in legislative parlance, to provide both parties with political cover on what surely will be tough votes.

Leaders know there will be hell-no votes on both issues in both Democratic and Republican caucuses. Bipartisan majorities will be required if PERS and public safety changes are going to pass this session.

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Democrats Run the Table in Oregon…Again

While observers thought things would be closer, Democrats surged to a working majority in the House, but retained a nearly tied Senate. With a Democratic Governor in the middle of his third term, the results from last night will put to the test the skills Democrats and Republicans gained while working with a 30-30 House now that one party has the opportunity to control the organization of both chambers.

• In the legislature, Democrats decisvely take charge of the House by 34 votes, not a supermajority, but clearly a working majority. Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland, the current majority leader, will be named Speaker within the next few days.

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