Salem 2015: Big budget battles lie ahead

The year 2015 is a big budget year for Oregon state government, with a recovering economy making for shifting priorities. Gov. John Kitzhaber is focused on education, but some Central Oregon lawmakers have concerns about where that money will come from.

The biennial budget proposed by Kitzhaber is more than $18 billion, half of which he says should go toward education.

“His budget doesn’t have to balance,” state Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, said Monday, the day Kitzhaber and lawmakers were sworn in for new terms. “People don’t understand that. The governor’s budget doesn’t have to balance, so he could wish for everything.”

Representatives and senators now face the task of finding where that money will come from and what issues it should be allocated to.

Whisnant supports school funding, but he says he wants to see how that money is being used.

“We have no transparency of how that money is being spent or what the outcome of what we’re spending is,” Whisnant said.

Education is not the only issue that needs attention. Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, the House Republican leader, says worn-down roads need to be a top priority, and that a higher gas tax is likely the answer

“We’re really four years out from being able to maintain the roads, let alone fix roads and bridges to be safe,” McLane said.

Along the road to creating the budget lies issues like health care, public safety and more.

“I think you’ll see a wrestling match over whether that’s the appropriate way to spend those dollars,” said Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown.

There’s more money to go around this time. The budget is up about 12 percent from 2013.

“I really think we need to put some money in a rainy-day fund,” said newly elected Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend. “It’s a feast or famine. Right now, we’re in a feast, and I think we should save for leaner times. Right now, the governor’s budget doesn’t account for that at all.”

The recession appears to be over, in urban areas of the state, but it’s a slow recovery for many rural areas. Now, lawmakers are is faced with creating a budget that will succeed in Oregon’s unique economic landscape.