With the state budget on perpetually unsettling grounds, officials have been trying to squeeze all the extra money they can out of the recent Oregon Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
On the first week of this year, the state released its annual CAFR for 2009, which included a specific amount of “unrestricted funds.”
The report reads: “As of June 30, 2009, the State’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $4.4 billion. Of this amount, approximately 25.1 percent was reserved for nonspendable items, such as inventories and permanent fund principal, or for specific purposes, such as debt service. The remainder was classified as unreserved, undesignated fund balance and was available for spending, subject to statutory and constitutional spending constraints.”
The state Senate Republicans are in the process of creating a budget plan to take $133 million of the unrestricted funds and direct it toward the state’s struggling economy.
“We can protect important government services and Oregon’s economy by using the money already at the state’s disposal,” Sen. Chris Telfer (R-Bend) said in a Jan. 11 press release. “We should use a small portion of this money to protect K-12 classrooms, higher education, services for the disabled and public safety.” 
Although this portion of money may seem fair game to the state, the Secretary of State’s office said that assumption is incorrect. The funds may appear undesignated, but they are under certain federal restrictions that allow them to be used only for certain expenses.
“These funds are protected for specific projects, such as the transportation fund, which is accumulated from the gas tax,” Secretary of State spokesperson Don Hamilton said. “They can’t just be directed to various educational funds.”
On Jan. 13, Secretary of State Kate Brown issued a press release to correct the assumption, calling it “completely out of context.”
With the special election right around the corner, Brown stressed the importance of
clarity in regards to the
state budget.
“Anyone providing information about state spending to help voters has an obligation to provide an honest and fair presentation. Oregonians deserve nothing less.”