Gov. Brown veto of bill raiding school emergency fund

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Governor Brown issued a line item veto on a $9.3 billion public school budget, eliminating $200 million in funding that legislative leaders were using from the one of Oregon’s state rainy day fund, the Education Stability Fund.

With record setting tax receipts, using funds designed for emergency backfill during an economic downturn, was certainly concerning.

The May Revenue Forecast was incredibly strong, projecting a $2.8 billion positive ending balance. This amounts to a $1.1 billion increase from the March Revenue Forecast and a $2.3 billion increase from the 2019 Close of Session Forecast. The state has also been allocated $2.6 billion in direct financial aid from the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, in addition to ARPA funds for local jurisdictions.

As the Assembly races for sine die, most insiders are assuming the 2021 session will wrap on Wednesday, the 23 of June. Adjusting budgets to find the additional $200 million to backfill Governor Brown’s line item veto will likely have an impact on timing the end of session, but likely not much.

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