As the school year commences and the complaints of busy schedules follow, students might not realize that one student may be even more swamped: Greg McNeill, the Republican candidate for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 8.
“(My fall term) is going to be very, very busy — with not a lot of sleep,” McNeill said.
McNeill, a 21-year-old junior, is running for District 8 against Democrat Floyd Prozanski. So far, McNeill said his campaign has been “so-so” because of his age and problems with funding.
“Given my age, it’s kind of hard to raise funds,” he said. “Everybody says it’s an uphill battle, but I’m confident I can pull off an upset.”
Despite his lack of funds, McNeill, who is a political science major, said he gets a lot of mail from political action committees and other groups asking him to speak or carry their endorsement. He currently holds endorsements from AG-PAC — an agriculture industry group — the Oregon Farm Bureau and the National Rifle Association.
Perhaps fittingly because he is a student, McNeill said education is the most important part of his platform.
“(Oregonians) spend more (on education) than the national average, and we test lower than the national average,” he said.
McNeill said he wants more state money to fund schools and more accountability for the Oregon Department of Education.
For the faltering Oregon economy, McNeill said he hopes to diversify industry and encourage small business.
“Oregon is first to get hurt and last to prosper,” he said. “We need to work on education, the workforce and retaining college grads. All those things will help create a better economy.”
Attorney Floyd Prozanski is running against McNeill for District 8 and is sure to provide hefty opposition. Prozanski served three terms in the Oregon House before being “termed out” in 2000. After term limits were ruled unconstitutional, however, Prozanski was able to run for election again.
During his tenure as a representative, Prozanski said he was able to work across party lines and put together “sound legislation,” especially in the area of the criminal justice system.
“I’m asking voters to consider what I’ve done in the past and the experience I’m bringing back to the Legislature.”
Prozanski said his top priority is to create dedicated funding for all levels of education, especially now that Oregon has been thrown into a school-funding crisis. Prozanski opposed Measure 5 — a 1990 measure that limited property taxes, shifting school funding from the local level to the state level — and Measure 19, a legislative referral that voters passed in the Sept. 17 special election, which uses $150 million of the state’s $220 million education endowment fund to fund schools in this biennium. Prozanski said Measure 19 will benefit K-12 while hurting higher education.
“(School funding) has been my top priority and will continue to be my top priority until the job gets done,” he said.
Prozanski added that he supports tuition freezes for college students and student control of incidental fees.
For the economy, Prozanski said Oregon needs to support existing businesses in Oregon and allow them to expand, instead of inviting multinational corporations with tax breaks.
A strong worker-retraining program is also important to Prozanski, who believes the nature of the Oregon economy is changing.
“The state has shifted away from natural resource-based jobs,” he said. “We need to retrain those workers for high tech.”
Ultimately, Prozanski said he wants “long term solutions, not quick fixes” and would be willing to work with Republicans to do so.
“When you get into that Capitol, you should leave your party shoulder pads and be a representative.”