[PL-Directors] Official Announcement of Ways and Means Budget Hearings

[Jim Scheppke]

Dear Directors: Here is the official announcement of the Ways and Means
Committee Public Hearings.  They have added some meetings to the schedule
(see below). Please plan to attend or send someone if you are concerned
about reductions to the Ready to Read Grant program in 2009-11. --> Jim

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Ways and Means Public Hearings
Planned in Eight Cities Across Oregon
Budget Information Now Available at www.Oregonbudget.gov



(SALEM) ­ Senator Margaret Carter and Representative Peter Buckley --
co-chairs of the Legislature¹s Joint Ways and Means Committee ­ announced
today they will hold eight public budget hearings around the state over the
last two weeks of April.

The hearings will begin in Lincoln City on April 20 (see full schedule
below) and will include stops in Pendleton, Ontario, Portland, Bend, Eugene
and Ashland, as well as a hearing at the State Capitol where participants
from Hood River will be able to participate via video conferencing.

Members of the committee will also stop in Klamath Falls during their drive
from the Bend hearing on April 29 on their way to Jackson County the
following day. While there, they intend to fan out across Klamath Falls and
meet individually with local citizens as they go about their day.

³We wanted to try something a bit different. So in Klamath Falls, rather
that a formal public hearing, we¹ll walk around town, visiting restaurants,
City Hall and local businesses and ask people their opinion on the
challenges facing us as we work our way out of this economic recession,²
said Buckley (D-Ashland). ³We want to hear what services are critical to
folks in rural Oregon, as well as what matters most to the people in our
larger population centers. So please take this chance to come tell us how
you feel.² 

³The budget is not just a collection of spreadsheets. It¹s a living,
breathing document that has tremendous impact on the daily lives of the
people our state² Carter (D-Portland) said. ³Oregonians from every corner of
the state will have the opportunity to let us know what is important to
them. From the Pacific to the Snake and from the Willamette Valley to the
Columbia River Gorge we bring the budget process to the people we
represent.² 

At each one of the public hearing, attendees will also receive a survey
instrument, allowing them to make choices about proposed service cuts,
potential revenue increases and other critical budget issues.

Public hearings will be held 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Lincoln City on April 20,
Portland from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 21 and 5:30 p.m. Salem on April 23.
The Salem hearing will include testimony from individuals in Hood River and
McMinnville, who will go before the committee via video link.

On Saturday, April 25, members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee will be
in Pendleton and Ontario to hear from local residents.

The following week, the committee will hold official public hearings from
5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Bend on April 29 and Ashland on April 30 and a 1 to 4
p.m. hearing in Eugene May 1.

Also this week, Buckley and Carter unveiled oregonbudget.gov, a new
simplified internet address where Oregonians can find information on the
state budget. The budget information, including proposals for potential
service cuts provided by each state agency, was first released last week on
the internet website of the Legislative Fiscal Office.

³While the information itself hasn¹t changed, the new easy-to-remember web
address will help more Oregonians connect to the budget process. Anyone in
Oregon with a computer and an internet connection can go to
www.oregonbudget.gov and see how the state¹s $4 billion budget deficit will
affect them,² Carter said.

³This is part of our efforts to have an open and transparent process. We
want to make sure everyone knows the numbers we are working with, how we are
constructing the budget and how we are responding to the needs and concerns
expressed to us by Oregonians,² said Buckley. ³We want public input. The
public hearings and the website are two ways we can meet that goal of
openness. We know working our way out of the recession means we need a
balanced approach. What we need now is public input on how to achieve that
balance.² 

The schedule is as follows:

Monday, April 20 

Lincoln City Cultural Center
540 NE Hwy 101 
Lincoln City 
5:30 to 8 p.m. 

Tuesday, April 21 

Portland Community College -Cascade Campus 
Auditorium, Moriority Building
705 N. Killingsworth Street
6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 23 

Oregon State Capitol
Hearing Room F 
900 Court Street NE
Salem 
5:30 to 8 p.m. 

Including Hood River via video link 

Saturday, April 25 

Pendleton Oregon National Guard Armory
2100 N.W. 56th Drive
10 a.m. to noon 

Saturday, April 25 

Ontario Treasure Valley Community College
650 College Boulevard
3 to 5 p.m. (Mountain View or ontario time)

Wednesday, April 29

Central Oregon Community College, Bend
Cascades Hall Room 117
5:30 to 8 p.m.  

Thursday, April 30 

Southern Oregon University, Ashland
Rogue River Room 
Stevenson Union 
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard
5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Friday, May 1 

University of Oregon, Eugene
Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC 180)
1415 Kincaid Street
1 to 4 p.m.