No matter who wins, tough budget choices await in Salem
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - After two years with a tied House of Representatives, Oregon voters could flip control of the chamber to one party in Tuesday's election.
The Senate also is up for grabs.
About a dozen competitive districts, most in the Portland suburbs, will determine which party takes control - if one does. Another tie is possible in the House and Senate.
A report of vote tampering by a Clackamas County election worker in the eastern Portland suburbs had the potential to impact the outcome of some key races and partisan control of the Legislature, if the results are close and there are a significant number of compromised ballots.
Investigators and election officials have not said how extensive the tampering might have been, beyond a report from a county lawyer that two ballots are highly suspect.
The party that controls a legislative chamber has the power to set the agenda in Salem for the next two years and to block or advance the priorities of the Democratic governor.
All 60 House seats and 15 of the 30 Senate seats are on the ballot. The winners will have to contend with a sluggish economy and costs that are growing faster than revenue.
Republicans have promised to roll back pension benefits for public employees and create jobs through tax changes and promoting development of natural resources. Democrats have said they'll promote jobs by funding infrastructure improvements and job training.
Despite years of tough budget cuts, there will almost certainly be more trimming as the economy recovers slowly and costs rise faster than state revenue. Decisions about what to keep and what to protect will only get harder.
At the same time, state and local governments will have to sharply increase their employee retirement contributions to make up for a steep shortfall in state pension funds.
Republicans have demanded significant changes to public pension benefits, although state Supreme Court decisions severely limit the options available.
Democrats, who often benefit from large contributions from public employee unions, have historically resisted changes to the Public Employees Retirement System.
Gov. John Kitzhaber has convened meetings with unions and business leaders to discuss wholesale changes to the state tax system. Another Kitzhaber panel is studying changes to sentencing laws.
Both initiatives could fizzle or result in politically perilous votes for the Legislature.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
This Union owned sock puppet had two full terms to fix the main reason Oregon is in such bad financial condition, and that reason is  P.E.R.S.  Kitzhaber once again in power, bought and paid for by the Unions, so don't expect him to do a damn thing about his P.E.R.S. disaster. Â
'...and costs rise faster than state revenue.'
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Pretty much sums up the problem right there, don't it?
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Only in the (union inspired) government model can you continue to increase spending without even considering cutting costs as a response to declining revenue.
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Increased cost, increased expense, decreased services, decreased revenue. Yep, more of that 'guberment efficency' we all hear so much about.
Too bad we can't vote Kitzhaber out of office.
 @Jamie No but I did vote against any candidate that received an endorsement from him.
Kitzhaber created a panel to study sentencing laws under the theory that the long sentences are driving the prison costs. What neither Kitzhaber nor the panel is looking at is why Oregon's incarceration costs are 50% above the national average. A true leader would first address the cost disparity before looking at keeping criminals out of prison or reducing their sentences. My guess is the prison issue wouldn't make the high priority list if the costs of incarceration were consistent with the national average.Â
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BTW - I love that picture where Kitzhaber is making like three-fingered Jack.
 @I812 We have so many people around the country in prison for stupid, non-violent offenses. The long sentences are driving prison costs.. and while I don't have a problem with long sentences, those should be reserved for the most hardened criminals and not for those caught with a joint.
 @I812Â
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Our prisons cost more because we don't contract many of them out to private prison company.
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Our jails are maintained by the county, a few prisons are as well and our state prison is run the state police.
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Because law enforcement officers are paid better and have benefits (unlike private jails), it costs more.
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The benefit of this is that taxpayers get oversight of those systems where private systems are often shrouded is trade and corporate secrets. This often results in prisoner abuse. An issue California is having a lot of.Â
http://www.alternet.org/story/155544/did_a_private_prison_corporation%27s_abuse_of_inmates_spark_a_deadly_riot_in_mississippi
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The second is that since they are paid poorly, are often under trained, private prison officials are more susceptible to corruption. This is how contraband and administrative abnormalities come from (like people escaping). http://rt.com/usa/news/private-prison-inmates-audit-120/
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Finally I don't feel that prisons should be a for profit business. Once it becomes profitable to incarcerate people the incentive to put more people in prison becomes a tool to drive profit and greedy people begin to use the justice system to make money (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal)
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So our choices are spend more money in housing prisoners, or find ways to keep the prisons empty. The governor is choosing the latter and to do that he is releasing convicts.
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 @I812 @JamieÂ
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But they don't start out that way.
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Private prison companies promise and initially deliver low cost prisons to a state. Then once they have indoctrinated themselves into the state's budget, once the contract is up they blow them away with a ridiculous price point.
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But since it is easier to keep them than to replace them, the state keeps paying more and more money.
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Once the scam was out it is unlikely you will see private prison industry grow. Not until they cane con another agency into money or find another con all together.
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 @Repoman  @I812 Most of the prisons around the country are privately run. That has a lot to do with the sky-high cost.
"""""No matter who wins, tough budget choices await in Salem"""""
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Ya, and who better to fix our budget than a real died in the wool spendthrift at the helm...... [rolleyes]
 @kramr *dyed
Kitzroberoflegalcitizens.   What a fritz.
Here is just a thought!!! Absolutely, no jobs to illegals (yes most are paid under the table), no public aid for anyone that is NOT a legal resident/citizen of the US., No additional benefits for mothers that have more than one child while on aid, mandatory drug tests for getting public aid...........Lets also tie the pay for the Gov. to his job performance.....in this case Kitz. would be working for free..
 @FreerideNOT Also, children of illegals should not be given financial aid for school. If their family that is here illegal can't figure out of the become legal citizens then the taxpayers should not bend over and forced to cough up more money to finance that that are breaking the law. I don't care care how innocent they like to portray themselves, they need to deal with existing problems first.
 @FreerideNOT But all conservatives oppose fines for businesses who employ illegals as "an unconscionable burden on business" (Romney, Repub. Debate, March 2012, Ryan(D, WI), floor speech, US House, April 2012). Big Business in IN FAVOR of employment of illegals as they drive wages down and can be cheated and manipulated with little fear of repercussions (slave labor?).
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The three states (MS, OK, GA) that instituted drug testing as a requirement for receiving benefits have all discontinued the practice since the costs far outweighed the savings, not to mention generating lots of lawsuits, which the states frequently lost (invasion of privacy, malpractice).
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As far as your "No More Kids", that would require a constitutional amendment according to SCOTUS.
How about next time we have a governor who governs, leads and accomplishes something instead of appointing panels and conducting studies.
Republicans have promised to roll back pension benefits for public employees and create jobs through tax changes and promoting development of natural resources. Democrats have said they'll promote jobs by funding infrastructure improvements and job training.
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Can't we do all those things?
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 @Repoman Infrastructure improvements are paid for with taxpayer money. This should be done as necessary, but not as a jobs program. The problem is the overly-generous retirement benefits in the public sector, compounded by double-dippers and supported by public employee unions. All of these need to go before any meaningful progress can be made in Oregon. In other words, it's never going to happen, and Oregon is going down the tubes.
 @AltaziÂ
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I am suggesting that none of these ideas are mutually exclusive.
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If you need infrastructure improvements, then you need them and that creates jobs (and we need some although we may disagree on how to implement them).
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We had a reasonably successful Assembly this last round where they actually passed a budget first thing. I think we should try and build on that and maybe have even more success.
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Few people disagree that if we don't have more revenue we can't spend more money. We just need to agree on if we want to give more (and few of us do) or what we want to trim.
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It can be done.
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Yeah just what we need governer rehab letting the crooks off even easier then they already are and figuring out ways to take more of our money for his pet projects...
"Another Kitzhaber panel is studying changes to sentencing laws"
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He wants to let criminals out sooner not because they are no longer violent but to save money. Our safety is not a consideration to Kitzhaber.
@RalphCramden We could save a boat load of money if someone walked through death row firing a machine gun into everyone of these monsters...
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http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/oregon_death_row.html
@Dirtman I'll contribute ammo to the cause!
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@Kachina I'll clean the weapon.
@RalphCramden
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Good for him. Â Just how much more of our state budget would you like to continue to spend locking up pot smokers?
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"Oregonâs prison problem has not yet reached the extreme crisis level of California, but Oregonâs ever-increasing prison growth and spending should not be dismissed. Oregon obviously has a much smaller general population than California, but, proportionally, Oregon has also experienced dramatic prison growth.Oregonâs prison population in 1980 was 3,120, while in 2010 our prison system held over 14,000 people. This represents a growth of over 350 percent, or an average of almost 12 percent per year. In contrast, Oregonâs general population grew by about 1.5 percent per year over the same period.
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This skyrocketing growth of our prison system has come at great expense. The Department of Correctionsâ (DOC) budget is one of the fastest growing state agency budgets and currently sits at over $1.4 billion dollars. Oregon now spends more money on our prison system than on higher education, a troubling forecast for our future."
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http://streetroots.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/shackled-by-old-laws-oregon%E2%80%99s-budget-is-locked-in-its-prisons/
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 @FestivusÂ
Give me a break. They don't put pot smokers in prison. It's a ticket. They don't even go to the jail and get fingerprinted or mug shots.
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Time to come back to reality.
 @Playanekes  @RalphCramden  @FestivusÂ
It is true. No one goes to jail for smoking pot unless they have prior offenses for other issues and part of their probation requirements is to stay away from all illegal drugs and alcohol. But then they go to jail for probation violation and don't go to prison. There is a difference between jail and prison.
 @FestivusÂ
Most is due to selling or trafficking heroin, meth and other lethal drugs that take a serious financial and social toll on society. While there are some that have been busted for trafficking pot they are a small percentage and don't often get long sentences which means they to county jail time or probation rather than prison.
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So are you suggesting making it all legal or letting those out that traffic hard core drugs?
 @RalphCramdenÂ
My bad for choosing metaphorical language.
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Prison population by offense:
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ARSON 0.5%
ASSAULT 12.7%
BURGLARYÂ 9.0%
DRIVING OFFENSES 3.8%
DRUGS 24.1%
ESCAPE Â 0.2%
FORGERY 0.4%
HOMICIDE 4.1%
KIDNAPPING 1.3%
RAPE 4.2%
ROBBERY 6.3%
SEX ABUSE 8.1%
SODOMY 4.5%
THEFT 9.3%
VEHICLE THEFT 2.1%
OTHER 9.9%
UNKNOWN 0.0%
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I don't have a further breakdown on the heavy hitter, and certainly drug offenses include manufacture, distribution, trafficking, possession, among others. Â Still, it's a full quarter of our prison population.
@RalphCramden @Festivus a prominent lawyer told me that this is true; there is nobody in prison for smoking pot in Oregon. Some people admit to distribution (sharing it with friends) but he said any experienced skater-punk pot dealer knows what to say to avoid more than a ticket.
Oregonâs lack of immigration enforcement is the biggest reason we have seen such a high increase in our prison population.
 @Scorcho However, since you brought it up, it's easy enough to compute:
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From the latest census, Oregon numbers:
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White persons, 88.6%
Black persons, 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, 1.8%
Asian persons, 3.9%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander persons, 0.4%
Persons reporting two or more races, 3.4%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino Origin, 12.0%
White persons not Hispanic, 78.1%
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Prison population:
White 72.5%
Hispanic 14.1%
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So whites are somewhat underrepresented, while Hispanics are imprisoned at almost exactly the same rate their proportion of the population would suggest.
 @Scorcho No.  The opinion was presented that "Oregonâs lack of immigration enforcement is the biggest reason we have seen such a high increase in our prison population."
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That opinion is demonstrably false with no other knowledge than the 5:1 population ratio of white to hispanic.
 @Festivus These numbers are irrelevant.  For #s to be relevant, you need to include the % of the population that each race makes up.
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Table should be reported in "% of population segment in prison".
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 @Playanekes  @Festivus  @MadMax64 Thanks, but I didn't do anything.  I simply looked up an easily located data point. Â
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Something I wish more folks would take the 60 seconds required to do the same.
@Festivus @MadMax64 wow. Nicely done, Festivus!
 @MadMax64 So here's the Oregon prison population as of December 2011 broken down by race:
ASIAN Â 195
BLACK Â 1,307
HISPANIC 1,967
AMER INDIAN Â 362
WHITE Â 10,112
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So by immigration, you meant from Washington, right?
 @RalphCramden Exactly why is it the Dems value the lives of the criminals more then the lives of the victims?
 @FreedomRocksÂ
Because leftists actually believe that inside the majority of criminals is a good person trying to get out. All they need is a hug and some understanding to be a productive member of society.