Gov: Teachers should work some days unpaid

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Ted Kulongoski says closing Oregon's growing deficit is going to take shared sacrifice, and he'll do his part by shaving 5 percent from his salary.

Kulongoski, who makes $93,600 annually, offered to trim his pay Thursday at a news conference in which he said state managers and executives will have their salaries frozen or cut through 2011.

The governor also suggested that teachers work some days without pay to save a full school year.

"Tough times call for shared sacrifice," Kulongoski said. "Everyone is going to share this."

All told, more than 5,000 state managers will see their salaries frozen or cut until the end of the 2009-11 biennium, which will save the state about $6 million for the current two-year period that ends June 30. They and the governor will also be forced to take up to four furlough days.

The cuts, though more than 5 percent of some workers' annual pay, represent just a sliver of an estimated $800 million shortfall. They also won't affect 27,000 union-represented employees who are currently in negotiations with the state. If those workers were to take the same reduction, Oregon would save more than $120 million during the 2009-11 budget period.

During the news conference, Kulongoski also floated his preferred way of balancing the current and upcoming budget. For the current deficit, he wants to spend 20 percent of the $2.2 billion Oregon has in federal stimulus and state reserve money. The rest would help with a 2009-11 shortfall that's projected to top well over $2 billion.

The plan would force $350 million in cuts before July 1 because the state, unlike the federal government, is required to balance the budget.

The Legislature's chief budget writers presented a blueprint similar to Kulongoski's earlier this week. Under their proposal, K-12 education would see the steepest reduction, just under $170 million — $65 million of which has already been done. It would mean, on average, five fewer days of school for Oregon students. Other cuts include about $19 million to social services and nearly $60 million to public safety.

Advocates for those programs, however, want lawmakers to tap into the state's education stability and rainy day funds, both of which hold hundreds of millions of dollars for state emergencies. They say it would be better to delay cuts until the upcoming budget period, when they can be spread over two years.

"We recognize the fact that painful cuts will be need, but we think it is more thoughtful to do them in a way that they can be spread out over time rather than acting precipitously to compact them into a three-month time period," said Leslie Frane, executive director of Local 503 of the Service Employees International Union.

During his comments, however, the governor said he would veto any such attempt. Using reserve funds now is "fiscally irresponsible" and "politically easy" and would result in deeper cuts in later years.

Kulongoski estimated the 2009-11 shortfall could reach as high as a third of Oregon's $16 billion budget. "If you spend that money all now, you will end up with months and weeks of school closures," Kulongoski said.

The governor also refused to accept that immediate cuts would result in lost school days this spring. One option, Kulongoski said, would be for teachers to work a few days without pay.

"The only way we're gonna get out of this is that everybody is going to have to contribute."

But a spokeswoman for the state's largest teachers' union was cool to Kulongoski's idea, saying it's impossible to cut millions from the K-12 budget and keep a full school calendar.

"If you're asking educators or any other employee to work for free, there will be a serious and direct impact on local communities," said Becca Uherbelau, spokeswoman for the Oregon Education Association. "We need to make the investment today. If we're looking at cutting schools or other vital services, that's money pulled directly out of the state's economy."