Sockeye Blog Archives

Hope you had a great long weekend!

As legislators consider digging deeper in the Education Stability Fund in order to lessen cuts made to local schools, new national figures are out showing that Oregon spends about 7% less per K-12 student than the national average.

The proposed ban on BPA in children’s products is making a comeback, despite being blocked in committee by Republican leadership. House Democrats have launched a “discharge petition” in an attempt to force the bill to the House floor. 

Meanwhile, a package of bills designed to provide more oversight of the insurance industry is facing an uncertain future after opposition from industry lobbyists.

Over the next few weeks, Oregon’s legislators will be making their final decisions about funding for vital state programs. Oregon’s $3.5 billion crisis poses a very real threat to basic services that middle-class families depend on, like schools, in-home care for seniors, services for people with developmental disabilities, and our public safety system.

We’ve spent weeks talking to people across the state and documenting what these cuts would mean. Click the photo below to hear how budget cuts would harm seniors in assisted living homes.

But at the same time, some lawmakers and corporate lobbyists want to make this crisis even worse, by pushing for tax breaks for the wealthy that would take even more money away from the services we value.

As the Oregon Center for Public Policy noted earlier this week:

“Worse, some lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats alike — have pushed for repealing Measure 66 for those with income from capital gains. The only real winners would be speculators and the rich if income from capital gains were to receive special treatment. In 2009, over half of Oregon’s net capital gains income (54 percent) went to just 4,300 taxpayers who each made over $500,000 that year, the richest of the rich.”

In other words, many legislators are—at this very moment—proposing big tax breaks to a tiny percentage of the wealthiest Oregonians, while at the same time considering deep cuts that will lead to school closures, larger class sizes, seniors being denied in-home care, and cuts to critical services like air and water monitoring. 

Whose values and priorities will legislators stand up for? Will they stand up for middle-class families by limiting cuts to schools, senior care, and public safety? Or will they choose to stand with corporate lobbyists by giving tax breaks away to those who are still prospering even in this economy?

The next few weeks will be the legislature’s moment of truth. The way they—and all of us—respond to this crisis is a test of who we are as a people. Now is the time to speak out. Click here to find your legislators and urge them to stand up for middle-class families, not corporate special interests.

If you weren’t at the amazing rally in Salem last Friday, you really missed out. But luckily for you, we put together a short video to give you some sense of what you missed.  Click below to watch it!

Bruce Hanna and Republican Leaders Kill Bill: Part 1

This week, Oregon House Republicans killed a number of bills by letting the clock run out on them. Many of these bills have enough votes on the floor of the House to pass, but Republican leaders, including Co-Chair Bruce Hanna, R-Coca Cola, have refused to let them out of committee. Over the next several days, we’ll be highlighting some of these important bills and what they could have meant for Oregonians.

Senate Bill 695, which would ban the chemical BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, has been blocked in the House by Republicans who refuse to hold a committee work session on it.

Why is this bill so important? Take it away, OLCV: “Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a dangerous, toxic chemical that is routinely found in plastic children’s food products like baby bottles, sippy cups, and infant formula cans.  Toxic BPA has been linked to several increasing children's developmental problems. “

Instead of voting to protect children by banning this harmful chemical in children’s products, Republican leaders have put the brakes on the bill. Why would that be? Kari Chisholm at Blue Oregon has an interesting take:

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"I’m not privy to all the wheeling and dealing down there on this particular bill, but it occurs to me that the primary opponents of this bill are the people who make packaging products -- and the Republican co-Speaker, Bruce Hanna, is the president of Roseburg Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

…

Coke's support for using Bisphenol-A is so strong that activist website Change.org called Coke "one of the most notoriously pro-BPA companies" last year.

How bad is Coke's stubborn behavior? Earlier this year, at the company's annual meeting, 26% of Coke shareholders voted to stop using Bisphenol-A. And yet, Coke continues to cling to the toxic substance. (At most companies a 10% shareholder vote is enough to spark changes.)

So, here's what I want to know: Has Bruce Hanna excused himself from the internal deliberations over Senate Bill 695? He's got a pretty darn clear conflict of interest as a major user of the toxic substance in his business."

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The good news is that all is not lost. Next Tuesday, Co-Speaker Hanna will be attending a town hall in Washington County along with Republican Senator Bruce Starr and Republican Reps. Shawn Lindsay and Katie Eyre-Brewer. OLCV is encouraging supporters of the BPA ban to show up at the event and demand to know why Hanna is playing politics with the health and safety of our children.

What: Town Hall with Speaker Bruce Hanna, Senator Bruce Starr, and Representatives Shawn Lindsay and Katie Eyre-Brewer.

Where: Hillsboro Civic Auditorium
150 E. Main Street, Hillsboro, OR

When: Tuesday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m

It's Tuesday. As the legislative session begins its final few weeks, a number of bills are going on life support. One of those, SB 695, which would ban the use of the chemical BPA in products like baby bottles, was still waiting for a work session when an internal committee deadline came and went yesterday evening.

Kari Chisholm at Blue Oregon wonders if the bill, which had broad, bipartisan support--but staunch opposition from corporations like Coca Cola--fell victim to Republican Co-Speaker Bruce Hanna, who's also the president of Roseburg Coca-Cola Bottling Company.