Today's Oregon News: February 2, 2012

It's Groundhog Day! On its second day, the Oregon legislature is in full swing working on a variety of bills, including ways to deal with the budget shortfall.

Legislature

Lawmakers consider supervisor ratio
Statesman Journal
"A bill intended to accelerate middle management reductions in Oregon state government got off to a rocky start before skeptical legislators Wednesday. House Bill 4131 calls for state agencies with more than 100 employees to show improvement by July in reducing their worker-to-supervisor ratios. The bill received a hearing Wednesday afternoon in the House General Government and Consumer Protection Committee, but committee members questioned whether the measure would lead to unintended consequences — or is even doable."

Legislator's mass email raises concerns
Statesman Journal
"More than 500 people have asked that their home email addresses be removed from a list compiled by a top Oregon legislator, who got the addresses through public records requests with state agencies. Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, said his staff is responding quickly to state workers and others who felt his access to their home email address constitutes an invasion of privacy. 'We are sending out an apology to everyone who complains, and erasing them from our database,' said Richardson, who used the email list to ask people to provide cost-saving ideas for state government. He serves as co-chair of the legislature's budget committee."

Legislative budget-writers target middle managers, prison
NPR
"Oregon legislative budget writers are targeting middle managers in an effort to bring the state's spending plan back into balance. They also announced Wednesday a proposal to close a 440-bed minimum security prison. The budget rebalance plan came on the first day of a scheduled month-long legislative session. Under the proposal, inmates at the Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem would be transferred to other prisons. The closure would save $1.6 million in the current budget cycle and more than $8 million in the next. Also in the cross-hairs: agency managers that aren't the front-line workers and also not the top level executives."

Oregon budget agreement trims hundreds of workers from state payroll
Oregonian
"Roughly 300 middle management and public affairs jobs would be eliminated from the state payroll and at least 100 other jobs would disappear with the closure of a minimum security prison under a budget agreement announced Wednesday as the Oregon Legislature opened its 2012 session. The plan, a bipartisan agreement forged by the Legislature's three top budget writers, emerged on a day that included boisterous protests by Occupy demonstrators and Gov. John Kitzhaber testifying at a hearing to push his plan for reforming schools. If the agreement holds up, one of the toughest tasks of the abbreviated February session will be nearly over."

Oregon prison in Salem proposed for closure because of budget cuts
Oregonian
"Oregon's budget crisis is taking a toll once again on the state prison system, with legislators planning to close a 440-bed prison in Salem to save money. Santiam Correctional Institution, a minimum-security prison operating in what was once a mental hospital annex, is set to close this July, eliminating up to 100 jobs. No inmates would be freed, state Corrections Department officials said. The prison held 434 inmates in January. The agency said 214 would be moved to more secure and more expensive cells at medium-security prisons. Inmates also would be shuffled to other minimum-security prisons."

Bottle of bourbon leads lawmakers to consider change in rules for nonprofits
Oregonian
"Just before she introduced herself to the House Revenue Committee members, Ginny Lang pulled a bottle of bourbon from a wooden case and set it before them. 'The reason we're here is this,' said Lang, a member of the Oregon State Capitol Foundation. The bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon wasn't just any old bottle of the Kentucky spirit -- it was one of 174 bottles of bourbon that came from the distillery's final barrel of the 20th Century.  The folks over at the Oregon State Capitol Foundation became the proud owners of the limited edition bourbon after Buffalo Trace decide to give away their final batch to charities, the idea being that they could then auction or raffle the stuff off."

Gov. Kitzhaber continues to push for education, health care bills
Statesman Journal
"Gov. John Kitzhaber said today he will push for lawmakers to build on the overhauls of education and health care that he proposed and they approved in the 2011 session. Kitzhaber spoke at a meeting of the Statesman Journal editorial board on the opening day of the 2012 legislative session. There were no surprises; Kitzhaber has been speaking about the proposals for several weeks, dating back to his state of the state address Jan. 13. Lawmakers returned for their 2012 session with four bills that the Democratic chief executive wants passed."

Other Headlines

Unemployment in some Oregon counties well above 9 percent
OPB
"Recent news that Oregon's average unemployment rate in December had fallen below 9 percent pointed to a modest recovery in the state, but a look at county-by-county numbers shows some rural counties are suffering more than their urban counterparts. In Crook County, recent statistics show December's rate was above 15 percent. According to the Oregon Employment Department, 22 counties were above the state's 8.9 percent rate."

State deal may help cut loans on homes
Register Guard
"Oregon homeowners who are facing foreclosure or are in trouble because they owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth could get relief under an agreement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers, state Attorney General John Kroger said Wednesday. An estimated $100 million to $200 million would be available to help Oregon homeowners under a multi-state agreement with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial, Kroger said, in announcing that Oregon would sign the agreement. In addition, the state would receive $30 million under the agreement, which must still be submitted to a federal judge for approval. Details of the proposed agreement will not be released until it is finalized, which should be next week, Kroger said."

OPINION: Komen deserves backlash for snubbing women
Oregonian
"SUSAN NIELSEN -- If the nation's most famous breast-cancer charity wants to throw Planned Parenthood under the bus, fine. But it should at least have the decency to apologize to the low-income women whose early-stage cancers might go undetected as a result. Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the philanthropic giant known for its ubiquitous pink ribbons, acknowledged Tuesday its decision to cut off grant funding to Planned Parenthood. The grants help pay for breast-cancer screenings and other breast-health services, and they target low-income women who lack access to health care."

After Bonamici victory, Oregon GOP wonders if 1st Congressional District is out of party's reach
Oregonian
"As Democrat Suzanne Bonamici savored her unexpectedly large special election victory, Republicans questioned Wednesday whether it was worth mounting another serious contest for Oregon's 1st Congressional District seat. Bonamici said she will be sworn in to her House seat Tuesday afternoon and is 'really focused on becoming an effective representative – an accessible and effective representative.' The former state legislator defeated Rob Cornilles by just over 14 percentage points in the special election to fill the vacancy left following the August resignation of Democrat David Wu. She was the favorite to win in a district with an 11.5-percentage point Democratic registration edge, but the strength of her win exceeded the fondest hopes of Democrats involved in the race."