We are now well past the halfway point of the Oregon Legislative Session. These final six weeks will be primarily focused on budgets and a few outstanding policy items. On Thursday, May 16, the Legislature received the final revenue forecast of the session. This is the last piece of information that Legislators need to make budget decisions – the revenue forecast gives them the official amount of revenue that will be available to balance the budget for the next two years.
The news on Thursday was good — the Legislature has just over $270 million in additional revenue that they weren’t expecting to have. So, what does this mean?
Everything gets talked about in the context of the current proposal from the Co-Chairs of the Legislature’s budget writing committee, the Ways and Means Committee. Senator Devlin and Representative Buckley’s budget proposal assumes a few things: it assumes some savings from changes to the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) which have already been approved by the Legislature; it assumes the Legislature will find $275 million in new revenue by cutting tax credits or raising existing taxes; and it assumes $135 million in additional cuts to health and human services, which have already been cut dramatically since the recession started.
The new revenue could mean a range of things, good and bad. The good news is that it is likely that there aren’t more severe cuts to the programs Oregonians with low incomes depend on to help them meet basic needs. The bad news is that it doesn’t necessarily mean the proposed $135 million in cuts won’t take effect, or that new money will be reinvested in critical services.
We know that too many of our neighbors and families here in Oregon are struggling, and the systems and structures that help us find the assistance we need when times are tough are stretched to the limit. We also know that the critical and life saving services provided by the Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, and Oregon Housing and Community Services aren’t meeting the needs in our communities. The budget cuts of the past three years have meant that too few Oregonians are getting the basic services they need including: emergency rent assistance to prevent or end someone’s homelessness, domestic violence shelters to help women seeking safety from violence, and child care or transportation to help a family receiving temporary assistance look for work.
Here in Oregon, we have worked hard to come together and to build the communities and public systems that sustain us. As a community and as a state, we can make choices that reflect our priorities. We can live in a state where everyone has access to opportunity, and a decent, stable and affordable place to call home. We can live in a state where families and neighbors are supported in times of crisis.
So let’s choose that future together. If you believe, as we do, that as a state we’re better and stronger when everyone has a place to call home, then take a few minutes to do something about it – call your Legislator and ask them to reinvest in the critical services that help meet people’s basic needs and let them know how important it is to you that we come together as a community to take care of each other. Now is the time for us to lift our voices together, and let our elected representatives know that we want more for the people in our state. Ask them to reinvest in opportunity. Ask them to reinvest in the programs that help meet people’s basic needs – like the Emergency Housing Account and the State Homeless Assistance program, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Ask them to reinvest in our state and the people that make this place great.
Update: Since this column was published on Friday, May 24, the work in Salem by the Oregon State Legislature has continued. On Monday, June 3, a Subcommittee of Ways & Means heard and approved the budget for Housing and Community Services. Unfortunately, there were no meaningful increases in funding for the safety net programs, Emergency Housing Account and State Homeless Assistance Program. The Housing Alliance will continue to advocate for increases to these programs in other ways, so stay tuned to http://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/housing-opportunity-blog/ for more information and how you can weigh in!
Alison McIntosh is a policy manager with Neighborhood Partnerships, a member of the statewide Housing Alliance.