By Andy Smith and Alison McIntosh, Contributing Columnist
On Monday, March 4, the co-chairs of the Ways and Means
Committee in the State Legislature presented their budget for Oregon for the
next two years. This is the beginning of
the second step in the process that will determine how the state spends its
dollars and what its priorities are over the next biennium. The first was the
governor’s budget proposal. Next is the hard work of the Ways and Means
Committee, who will craft a budget that they believe reflects Oregon’s
priorities.
The Human Services Coalition of Oregon (HSCO) is composed of more
than 80 organizations, all concerned about the future of our state and our most
vulnerable neighbors and community members. As the co-chairs of the Human
Services Coalition of Oregon, we are concerned about the first draft of
the budget presented by Representative Buckley and Senator Devlin. The co-chairs’ budget is built in part on
$135 million worth of cuts from the Human Services Subcommittee of Ways and
Means. This sub-committee oversees the Oregon Health Authority and the
Department of Human Services, and the programs that help keep Oregonians and
their families safe and healthy. These reductions would come on top of three
years of cuts to programs that keep our most vulnerable Oregonians safe and
healthy.
In addition, the co-chairs’ budget also assumes large
savings by making changes to the retirement savings of public employees, cuts
tax expenditures and more. If these savings are not achieved, HSCO believes
there is a risk of further reductions to these critical human services.
Today, too many of our neighbors and families here in Oregon
are struggling — struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table;
struggling to make ends meet each month and keep their kids in school;
struggling to access affordable health care and mental health care. We know
that the systems and structures that help Oregonians to find the assistance
they need when times are tough are stretched to the limit. The past three years
of budget cuts have seriously and severely impacted the most vulnerable among
us. We worry where more cuts will come from while lives hang in the balance.
For example, since 2011, families with extremely low or no
income have experienced severe reductions in temporary assistance as they’re
seeking employment — the program was cut in half in 2011 while need
skyrocketed.
The number of families with children needing assistance has
more than doubled since the start of the recession. Community partners and the
faith community have stepped up but are also stretched to the limit.
We know that as a state we can make choices that reflect our
priorities, and none more so than the choices we make about the budget. We want
all kids to succeed in school, everyone to have a safe place to call home and
people to be able to access the care and services they need. Now is the time to
put all our options on the table — we must look at tax expenditures, consider
recommendations to make government more efficient, look at using a portion of
the rainy day fund or examine other ideas to balance the budget.
As the legislature begins the difficult process of creating
a budget, it’s time to pause and reflect on the Oregon we want to live in. At
HSCO, we believe we want to live in an Oregon where we take care of our
neighbors with low incomes, our seniors, people with disabilities and families
with children. We want to live in an Oregon where we all have the opportunity
to be healthy and succeed in school and life. Let’s craft a budget that
reflects those priorities. Let’s make sure we’re taking care of the most
vulnerable among us.
Andy Smith and Alison McIntosh are co-chairs of the Human
Services Coalition of Oregon.
The Human Services Coalition of Oregon (HSCO) promotes
the dignity of all Oregonians through improved public policy and strengthened
support for human services. Find out more at www.oregonhsco.org.
This article appears in 2013-03-15.