NORTH BEND - Everybody wants more money.

That was the message sent to the Oregon State Senate and House Joint Ways and Means Committee on Saturday, when it heard nearly 21/2 hours of testimony on the state's $14.9 billion discretionary spending budget.

Aside from a 10-minute overview of his and Portland House Democrat Mary Nolan's proposed budget strategy, Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, was the only committee member whose voice heard during testimony from nearly 60 South Coast constituents.

The rest of the panel members (only 14 of 21 attended the event) sat on the stage of North Bend High School's multipurpose room and soaked in the rapid-fire pleadings to dedicate more funding to myriad programs in the next budget cycle.

Those testifying had two minutes to make their cases. Within the co-chairs' budget, Schrader highlighted plans to increase funding for K-12 education by 18 percent, $100 million for a housing initiative and $50 million to help counties repair roads, among others.

But those choices have left others wanting.

Southwestern Oregon Community College President Judith Hansen wanted the panel to consider funding Oregon's community college system with at least $529 million. Her colleague, Stephen Schoonmaker, the vice president of instruction and student services at Southwestern, agreed.

“Community colleges should not be treated as a modern day Oliver Twist required to hold out our hands and ask for more,” he said.

Southwestern student body President Holly Egan was concerned with the underfunding of community colleges.

“If the state does not increase funding for community colleges, students statewide will be faced with higher tuition, which, in return, may make them go to school elsewhere, where they can afford it,” she said.

Schrader admitted at the beginning of the meeting that community colleges were not going to be happy.

“We've tried to emphasize Head Start, we've tried to emphasize K-12, and that makes it tougher to do community colleges and higher ed,” he said. “We're hoping we can get these kids off to good start, so they can work through the tougher institutions where we can't put as much money into.”

A similar strategy was employed, he said, when it came to human services, where the co-chairs were supporting early childhood development in hopes of foregoing more expensive treatment programs later in life.

“We're putting our money on the kids,” Schrader said.

The committee also heard plenty of testimony in support of Verger's Senate Bill 21 to shuttle $60 million to the Bay Area to widen and deepen the lower Coos Bay shipping channel. Oregon International Port of Coos Bay Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop urged the panel to invest in the project so the port could take part in the skyrocketing demand for containerized shipping terminals.

“This growth has created serious congestion in major U.S. ports, which in past years has affected the ability of many businesses in meeting the needs of their customers and ultimately depriving, or costing American consumers,” he said.

If the U.S. does not capture the surge in trade, mainly with China, then Mexico and Canada will, he said.

Port Commissioner Caddie McKeown said that by investing in the project, the state likely would receive $20 million each year in revenue. Wally Robbins, a past president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local No. 12, said during the local maritime heyday, 450 longshoremen made a living in Coos Bay. Those numbers have dwindled to less than 60 today, with many traveling to Portland, and Longview and Vancouver, Wash., to find work. Two people, Holly Stamper and Jody McCaffree, both opponents of a proposed liquefied gas terminal on Coos Bay's North Spit, said they were not as optimistic about the dredging project.

“I'm here to encourage you to have some healthy skepticism on Senate Bill 21,” Stamper said, indicating she believes the LNG terminal is linked with the dredging bill since both LNG and container ships require a deeper port.

“We don't oppose a cargo terminal, but if it's linked (to LNG) then we do,” McCaffree said.

Despite Schrader's pledge toward helping children, Sharon Comden, a Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteer, said cost-cutting measures at the Oregon Department of Human Services keep more children for far too long in homes where meth has been manufactured.

“We have kids who have been taken out of the homes and placed back in those toxic homes, five and six times, and more,” she said.

Several people testified to increase the salaries of circuit court judges to retain high-quality candidates, noting that Oregon circuit judges rank last in pay.

Kenn Kennedy, the vice chairman of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program advisory council for Coos County, advocated for the state to increase the mileage reimbursement rate for volunteers beyond the 12 cents they currently get per mile.

“I don't have to tell you folks that at $3 a gallon plus, how much $12 a month will buy in gas,” he said.

While the budget has a healthy increase for K-12 education, many educators asked for more. Marshfield high School choir teacher Ken Graber said increasing the state education budget to $6.3 billion would help class sizes go “from manageable to optimal.”

North Bend teacher Steve Grief wants class sizes reduced, too.

“I literally have U.S. history classes of 39 students in one room. It's really hard for me to connect,” he said. “I don't know if I could do this job if I was 22 and starting over again with the load and with what I have been asked to do.”

North Bend School Board Chairwoman Carolyn Thompson asked legislators to support a proposed Senate bill that would tack on an additional $300 million for state K-12 funding, translating to about $450,000 more for North Bend. The money would go toward hiring teachers.

“We've been hit hard here, and we need your help,” Thompson said.

Coos County Board Commissioners Nikki Whitty and Kevin Stufflebean warned the commission that with the $6.8 million shortfall brought about by the expiration of federal timber payments, the county is considering relinquishing or scaling back many state-county services. One example, Stufflebean noted, was in Coos County Public Health where the state contributes only $37,000, “which is not even enough to fund one public health nurse.”

The county's public health business operation's manager, Sherrill Lorenzo, said the state support provides “less than 2 percent of the funding for Coos County's public health,” yet state laws mandate much more.

Lt. Steve Smartt, the commander of Coos Bay's Oregon State Police Office, prodded the panel to think about state troopers. In 2003, he was forced to lay off 10 troopers, nearly halving the number of local troopers. The loss of troopers has led to more fatalities on state roads, he said. Due to the increased presence of troopers on state Highway 38 between 1998 and 2003, there was only one fatal crash. But, after the layoffs, there were five traffic fatalities on 38 within a 10-month period.

“My hope is that we can increase our numbers, so that we can proactively seek out and apprehend hazardous drivers before they inflict the financial and emotional impact on families and society as a whole,” Smartt said.

Schrader encouraged people unable to speak due to the time constraints to submit written testimony to the committee.

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