Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber released his administration’s recommended state budget this week, which in addition to reforming public education, is designed to close Oregon’s impressive spending gap without increasing taxes.
Kitzhaber presented his budget to public officials and media at the Capitol building with several charts and graphs accompanying him in the background. As he began to introduce the reasons and details of his proposals, he first emphasized that state officials will need to accept drastic changes in the budget-making process.
“The only path forward is to break fundamentally from the past and redesign the way we provide public services,” Kitzhaber said at the event. “If we do this right, we can use this moment to lay the foundation for a more prosperous future for the state.”
Kitzhaber’s path departs from the traditional method in which state agencies are financed. His budget abandons the policy of funding state programs at “current service levels,” which in layman’s terms means that state programs will receive the exact same amount appropriated last year, rather than a bigger amount that has been adjusted for inflation and population growth. His approach has long been favored by Republican congressmen, who link “current service level” funding to a constant and unjustified growth in government spending.
“We are excited that the governor is building his budget on some of the principles that we have been trumpeting for years,” the office of Oregon Senate Republicans said in a press release. “It is the only way to put Oregon on a path free of perpetual overspending and tax increases. We urge our Democrat colleagues in the Senate to adopt this same approach.”
By funding state agencies at last year’s levels, the budget frees up $1.2 billion in revenue to use in other areas of concern without generating a need for heavier taxes.
For Kitzhaber, the state’s primary concern is far and away education funding, and plans to allocate much of this revenue to public schools, colleges and universities. He also stated his interest in reforming early childhood education, and mentioned that his administration will introduce an Early Learning Council in the 2012-13 school year to address a number of issues facing K-12 schools, namely a funding process he considers inefficient.
“That investment will be returned many times over through productive, responsible citizens who are in our workforce, not our social support system,” Kitzhaber said.
Kitzhaber also stated the need to address the overall structure of academics in Oregon. At the moment, the public education system is divided into three independent branches: K-12, community colleges and the Oregon University System. Kitzhaber’s solution is to create a means of collaboration between these branches. In his presentation, he stated he will be forming the Oregon Education Investment Team next week, one goal of which will be to unite state education under one banner.  
“Many people have pushed for a public education continuum in the past, where we break down the walls between K-12, community college, and university education,” OUS spokesperson Diane Saunders said. “It is a concept that has been there for a while, but it is important. We need to stop looking at state education as three separate units.”
Kitzhaber plans to initiate the Oregon Education Investment Team this Wednesday through executive order. As for the budget, the responsibility now shifts to the state legislature, where congressional leadership will aim to produce their version of a balanced budget by Feb. 14.
 
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