Senator Boquist: Kicker theft, Opening Capitol, more…

By Oregon State Senator Brian Boquist,

• Greedy legislators in the super majority-controlled state house plan to take as many taxpayer dollars as possible, in part by stealing the taxpayers’ kicker checks. Oregon’s tax rebate, or kicker, is a rebate calculated for individual and corporate taxpayers when state revenue exceeds state forecasts by 2%. This tax season, the kicker is expected to total $571 million. Under Senate Bill 846, $15 million of that total would be redirected to the state’s Department of Justice and Insurance Fund.

• House Bill 2788 is being lauded as a bill that would stop the DOJ from charging state agencies by the hour. The department would have to rely on funds appropriated by the Legislature instead. Hmm. Wonder if those funds will come from the stolen kicker money?

• Republicans have been pushing to open the Capitol to the public, and in the House, they are forcing Democrats to read the full text of bills as a way of slowing down their passage.

• Senator Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls), the chief sponsor of SB 666, released a statement in support of the transparency legislation that would allow public notice of government union contract negotiations.

• Oregon OSHA is currently proposing a permanent rule to extend Covid-19 restrictions indefinitely in workplaces throughout Oregon.

— Excerpts from Oregon State Senator Brian Boquist’s newseltter