Sen. Boles: Citizens locked out of Special Session

By State Senator Denyc Boles,

Hello Friends,

The economic impact of COVID emergency closures resulted in a tsunami of unemployment claims, and millions of dollars in revenue shortfall. Oregon’s reliance on income tax and corporate taxes placed our situation in a position where we were one of the states hit hardest with revenue shortfalls. The special session this past Monday secured funding for K-12 by moving $400 million of the education reserves into district operating budgets for this school year, and reserves were used to help county, city, and school budgets with their PERS liability. The majority of remaining 1.2 billion in cuts were adopted agency recommendations for reducing agency budgets by not filling positions or waiting to start new programs legislated during the 2020 short session.

While I remain concerned, Oregonians have been and continue to be locked out of the building and public process. I was grateful our community was able to secure $20 million for capitol improvement to improve the City of Salem and City of Turner water systems. Due to building closures and the lack of open public process, it is critical that you reach out to my office by email or phone so I can ensure your issues are Oregon’s issues.