Oregon, we have a problem. And unlike Apollo 13, our problem will not be made into a movie with Tom Hanks. Our problem has to do with fiscal responsibility. I know, it’s not as sexy as spaceships, but it may be more important.
Not convinced? Take a look at the recent Lane County Measure 20-129. The proposal for a 1.1 percent income tax increase was shot down resoundingly, with 71 percent of Lane County residents who voted voting against it. Now I know, most of the people reading this don’t pay taxes yet. But we’ve all seen the commercial with the guy in the question mark suit, screaming at the top of his lungs like a drug-addled hobo about how to get free money. If that’s what taxes do to people, I want no part of it.
Still, there must have been a reason why the government wanted to take our money. As it turns out, there was a pretty big one. Congress decided last year not to renew the 2000 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act – an act that gave Oregon $280 million in federal funding last year. Lane County had received at least $32 million per year since 2002. Now counties across the state are faced with a tough decision: Either that money has to come from somewhere else, or heads have to roll.
It looks like most counties are choosing the latter. Forty-three programs in Lane County are now facing budget reductions or outright elimination. All but 10 of those cuts are expected to come from the county Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Health and Human Services. Services expected to go include funding for violent crimes detectives, emergency search and rescue, and services for family violence, abuse and neglect. Hundreds of prison beds will have to go as well. I don’t know about all of you, but I’ll sleep better at night knowing that my safety and well-being is a priority to Lane County, so long as it doesn’t cost more than the price of mattresses for criminals.
Things are much worse in Josephine County, however. They had to lay off nearly 25 percent of all their county employees last Wednesday. The District Attorney will only be able to prosecute 500 criminals this year, as opposed to 5,200 last year. This would be where I insert a joke, but that thought is just too damn scary to be funny.
Nothing helps take your mind off a few thousand extra criminals walking the streets like reading a good book. But in Jackson County, even books are feeling the pinch. All 15 of the county’s libraries closed in April because of lack of funding. It’s the largest library closure ever in the United States, but is just one of the many budget crises Oregon now has to face.
So where has all the money gone? The answer is frustratingly clear by now: Iraq. The government has spent more than $400 billion on the war effort in just four years – and for what? Freedom? National security? I’m much more likely to be stabbed on Franklin Boulevard by someone who isn’t in jail because there aren’t enough beds, than attacked by al-Qaida. The primary consequence of this war, for myself and for a majority of middle class Americans, is felt at the gas pump.
Since bottoming out in January, gas prices have now boomed beyond the prices we were seeing last summer, and these increases may continue for longer than anyone would like to imagine. Trying to sell a tax increase while staring down the prospect of four-dollar-a-gallon gas is a tricky proposition. That theory proved itself last week.
So the state will just have to make due with what it has – and it doesn’t have much. In the meantime, Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson is in for some frustrating nights. About 75,000 residents live throughout the 1,640 square mile county. By his word, Gilbertson will be the only one in the entire county able to respond to an assault in progress, and that’s only if a state trooper is available to back him up.
So we’ll continue fighting for freedom abroad, while leaving basic resources, like health and safety, on the back burner. It’s good to see we have our priorities in order.
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