When an Oregonian article uses some version of that phrase "over a cliff" three times in a single 400-word piece about Oregon's budget future, it's a safe bet they're trying to make a point:
California drew national attention to the risk that states would go broke when it had to issue IOUs to contractors and taxpayers this year because it simply could not pay for essential state services.
Researchers at the Pew center looked for other states with similar problems to California, including plunging state revenues, high unemployment and limits on lawmakers' abilities to raise taxes or fees.
Not surprisingly, they fingered Oregon as one of the 10 most at risk of going over a fiscal cliff due to those factors.
"Following California over a fiscal cliff" is a picturesque way of saying that Oregon, with its mandatory balanced budget--over 90% of which pays for education, health care, and public safety--may soon find itself unable to pay for the basic services it provides its citizens.
None of this is new: Oregon's unemployment rate has been in double-digits all year, public schools have been looking at furlough days for teachers, and structural problems like the kicker law and the existence of the state's professional initiative industry make it difficult for the legislature to do anything about it.
Difficult, but not impossible.
Only 72 days until January 26th, when it's time for Oregonians to vote Yes on Measures 66 and 67.
Time to Span the State.
[More after the jump.]
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Update: And speaking of Oregon's professional initiative industry, we noted two weeks ago that the Oregon AFT and the OEA were suing professional anti-tax and anti-union initiative promoter and racketeer Bill Sizemore, alleging that he and his money man Loren Parks set up sham non-profits to re-direct money used to qualify and promote his four 2008 ballot measures (all of which failed, in part because their opponents began running ads describing them as "Bill Sizemore's ballot measures")
This week, Sizemore strikes back:
Oregon anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore is suing teacher unions and other opponents, saying they made false statements about him during the 2008 election, including calling him a racketeer. [...]
Greg Hartman, attorney for the Oregon Education Association, said that since the jury in 2002 found that Sizemore's former political action committee engaged in racketeering, it's a "reasonable inference" to say broadly that Sizemore is a racketeer.
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Nice work if you can get it: This summer a crack team of investigators from the Oregon Department of Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Education Program spent their Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, between 6pm and 2am, cruising 147 Oregon bars (and 16 bowling alleys). But it wasn't all beer and pretzels--in fact it was no beer at all (although we don't know about the pretzels): They were checking for compliance with Oregon's January 1 ban on smoking in bars.
The results? While not all establishments were in excruciatingly complete compliance on "no smoking" signage, most of them were, in fact, smoke-free.
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In what appears to have been an unintentional, but certainly tragic incident, a 14-year-old Terrebonne boy was killed by a bullet that pierced the mobile home where he was sleeping. Worse, the bullet was fired by the boy's cousin.
Sheriff's Sgt. James Savage said the investigation was ongoing but the shooting didn't appear to be intentional.
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Oregon gas prices increased to $2.78/gal this week, up 3.7¢.
Cheapest reported pump price: $2.49/gal, at the Space Age station, 1120 SW 1st Ave & SW Berg Pkwy, in Canby.
Highest reported pump price (tie): $2.99/gal, at the Chevron station, 21755 NW Imbrie Dr & NW Cornelius Pass Rd, in Hillsboro. And Ashland's bizarre anti-price war is in its third week: The 76 station at 460 S Valley View Rd & I-5 (Exit 19) and the Shell station across the street at 461 S Valley View Rd are still playing pump-price chicken at $2.99/gal.
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Not the School of Hard Knocks: Driven at least partly by an economy where jobs are scarce in the extreme, enrollment at Oregon's seven universities rose 6% this year to a record high of 91,582 students.
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Tune in to the Morning Show on KPOJ AM620 tomorrow morning between 7.30 and 8.00 to hear Carl, Christine, and Paul match wits with TJ on the weekly Spanning the State Limerick Challenge!
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