Devlin, Ferrioli react to state economic outlook

Party leaders in the Oregon State Senate reacted glumly on Wednesday to news that the state was going to face bigger fiscal shortages than originally anticipated.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski called for budget cuts across the board on Wednesday, which will mean about $850 million less for lawmakers to spend on state projects. Such significant cuts will affect how House and Senate Democrats, who control both bodies, will be able to proceed with their agenda.

“A budget shortfall of this magnitude will significantly alter the game plan for this upcoming session,” Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin said in a statement.

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day) was blunt about what the state’s economic forecast meant for Oregon, and he urged Senate Democrats, who hold an 18-12 majority in the body, to take a look at the Republican platform.

“When you boil down the numbers it comes to this: skyrocketing unemployment and freefalling revenue projections mean that working class Oregon families are hurting and looking for help,” Ferrioli said in a statement. “We can create almost 20,000 jobs by providing struggling families with tax relief at half the cost of other stimulus proposals. These jobs will create strong, permanent and local jobs that will stay in Oregon.“

Devlin said that cuts the state was facing were not so different from the tight budgets Oregonians were facing at home in the wake of rising energy and food prices, as well as rising unemployment.

“Families all over Oregon are sitting down at the kitchen table and making tough decisions about what can and can’t be cut. The legislature is in the same boat. We will have to prioritize and protect the things that are most important to Oregonians,” Devlin said. “We have a serious job ahead of us. I have every confidence in my colleagues that we’re ready to get to work and make the tough decisions that will have to be made. The people of Oregon are depending on us and we do not take that charge lightly.”

While Devlin talked of cutting the state budget, Ferrioli talked of cutting taxes to try and alleviate the burden on Oregonians.

“Our colleagues across the aisle need to understand that growing government by increasing taxes and borrowing money isn’t the answer that families need,” Ferrioli said. “Lasting, local jobs are the answer, not bigger government.”