Chuck Riley campaign turns to out-right lies in race against Bruce Starr

Oregon Senate Republicans

Hillsboro, OR – In a desperate attempt to undermine Senator Bruce Starr’s strong record supporting education in Oregon, Chuck Riley (D-Hillsboro) and the Democratic Party of Oregon have sent a mailer to thousands of voters that are based on falsehoods and complete reversals of Starr’s voting record.

Riley claims that Starr voted for Senate Bill 5520 in 2009, a budget written and pushed by a Democrat controlled legislature that cut education funding. In reality, Starr voted against the bill three times. Ironically, it was Riley who voted in favor of the bill not once, but twice. So while the record clearly states Starr’s innocence, Riley is guilty of his own hasty accusations: supporting a woeful education budget that left classrooms underfunded and class sizes increased.

In even starker contrast, last year Starr championed and voted for a $1 billion funding increase for Oregon classrooms, one of the largest education budget increases in state history.

“If Chuck Riley and his cronies grew up in the house I did, they would be getting their mouths washed out with soap right now,” said Starr. “This isn’t a ‘distortion’ or ‘mis-characterization’, this is an outright lie. At a fundamental level, voters deserve someone they can trust to tell the truth. If Chuck Riley wants to salvage any credibility with voters, he should apologize and send out a mailer retracting these lies.”

Starr spent much of last session advocating for local schools, both to receive increased funding and new tools to train teachers. In addition to reforming the Public Employee Retirement System and providing schools with a record billion dollar budget increase, Starr voted for innovative teacher training and support programs pushed by the Chalkboard Project.

Just last week schools across Oregon learned that they will see on average a 26% reduction in their payments to Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System in large part because of Starr’s leadership on the issue and resulting reforms. Lower PERS rates mean more money for classrooms, teachers and additional school days.

“My record of supporting classrooms speaks for itself: I have consistently fought for increased education funding and new tools to help teachers and students succeed,” said Starr.

Starr has served in the Oregon state legislature since 1999, as a member of both the House and Senate. His priorities have reflected the needs of a rapidly growing region including education reform, transportation investments, and economic development incentives. He has been a leader on issues impacting the state’s economy and has focused on ways to make it easier for small businesses to grow and thrive.