The Register-Guard recently reported that some Republicans in the Oregon Legislature claim there is a way to solve the state’s budget crisis without a need to vote for Measure 28’s tax increase. They claim there’s plenty of money to go around, and they have a “secret plan” to find it. The rub? They’ll only tell voters if Measure 28 fails.
After we finished laughing (yes, there are secret “money shacks” hidden behind state buildings across the state, and only those greedy state workers know where they are!), we decided to ask, in all calmness and equanimity: If you have such a plan, why in the name of broken government didn’t you bring it up in the summer?
Could it be that: A) It’s the same old Kruse-Doyle plan, calling for cutting state services and disbanding the OLCC, that was floated around in the special sessions and went nowhere? (Gee, cutting state services? Sound familiar?) or B) It’s a clever misdirection campaign to fool Oregonians into voting “no” on the promise of fixing the problems with a bag of “magic budget dust”?
Oregon’s vital services don’t have time for nonsense — they need answers. If anyone has a fair, workable solution that will pass political muster, either sing or step away from the microphone.