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Lingering issues postpone legislative adjournment
By Charles E. Beggs, Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 25, 2003 | 1 comment(s)
SALEM - Capping off an $11.6 billion budget, the state's part of a baseball stadium plan and a few other lingering issues are between legislators and ending their 2003 session as they begin a new week.
Talk of adjourning over the weekend waned as lawmakers had a busy Saturday, and they took Sunday off.
On Saturday, they sent Gov. Ted Kulongoski bills to impose a 1 percent statewide hotel-motel tax to fund tourism programs and to give rural doctors a break on malpractice insurance costs.
Both measures are priorities of the governor's.
Assembling a $6 billion omnibus budget bill for education and some other programs took much of Saturday, and the Senate delayed a vote on the measure until Monday.
The bill contains $5.2 billion for state funding of local schools, the biggest item in the general fund budget and about $150 million more than the school funding figure passed by the Republican-run House.
The measure in the Senate also has about $680 million for the state university system and a variety of other agencies including the Legislature and the governor's office.
The Senate late Saturday reversed its vote from a day earlier and passed a stadium financing bill on a 16-11 vote. The measure failed 18-12 on Friday.
The bill would use $150 million in income tax revenue from future team players and executives to help build a Portland stadium in hopes of attracting the Montreal Expos or another major league team.
The bill returns to the House, where it twice has passed on 33-25 votes, for action on minor amendments.
The Senate also passed and sent to the House a bill that would allow bars and taverns to add a sixth video poker machine; current law sets a limit of five.
Awaiting a House vote is a proposed ballot measure to create a budget reserve fund.
The fund would built by putting 1 percent of available general fund revenue into the pot in each two-year budget period until the rainy day reserve amounted to 10 percent of the budget.
The measure is a revision of a bill sent to the House by the Senate.
The Senate version would have used extra state revenue to build a reserve instead of sending "kicker" refunds back to taxpayers. Once the reserve pot amounted to 10 percent of the budget, refunds would resume.
State law now says if revenue tops official forecasts by at least 2 percent, all the surplus has to be refunded. The House reserve fund proposal wouldn't change the refund requirement.
Other pending issues include adopting a new public pension plan for newly hired state and local government workers and a proposal to increase timber cutting in Tillamook and Clatsop state forests.
Talk of adjourning over the weekend waned as lawmakers had a busy Saturday, and they took Sunday off.
On Saturday, they sent Gov. Ted Kulongoski bills to impose a 1 percent statewide hotel-motel tax to fund tourism programs and to give rural doctors a break on malpractice insurance costs.
Both measures are priorities of the governor's.
Assembling a $6 billion omnibus budget bill for education and some other programs took much of Saturday, and the Senate delayed a vote on the measure until Monday.
The bill contains $5.2 billion for state funding of local schools, the biggest item in the general fund budget and about $150 million more than the school funding figure passed by the Republican-run House.
The measure in the Senate also has about $680 million for the state university system and a variety of other agencies including the Legislature and the governor's office.
The Senate late Saturday reversed its vote from a day earlier and passed a stadium financing bill on a 16-11 vote. The measure failed 18-12 on Friday.
The bill would use $150 million in income tax revenue from future team players and executives to help build a Portland stadium in hopes of attracting the Montreal Expos or another major league team.
The bill returns to the House, where it twice has passed on 33-25 votes, for action on minor amendments.
The Senate also passed and sent to the House a bill that would allow bars and taverns to add a sixth video poker machine; current law sets a limit of five.
Awaiting a House vote is a proposed ballot measure to create a budget reserve fund.
The fund would built by putting 1 percent of available general fund revenue into the pot in each two-year budget period until the rainy day reserve amounted to 10 percent of the budget.
The measure is a revision of a bill sent to the House by the Senate.
The Senate version would have used extra state revenue to build a reserve instead of sending "kicker" refunds back to taxpayers. Once the reserve pot amounted to 10 percent of the budget, refunds would resume.
State law now says if revenue tops official forecasts by at least 2 percent, all the surplus has to be refunded. The House reserve fund proposal wouldn't change the refund requirement.
Other pending issues include adopting a new public pension plan for newly hired state and local government workers and a proposal to increase timber cutting in Tillamook and Clatsop state forests.
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