The two candidates for the District 52 seat in the Oregon House of Representatives, incumbent Rep. Jeff Helfrich (R) and challenger Anna Williams (D), took part in a candidate forum at Hood River Rotary Club’s Oct. 11 meeting to answer questions.
So far during the week before Labor Day, the only press releases from Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office have announced a list of appointments and the creation of a panel to study ocean acidification and hypoxia.
Local government officials told Gov. John Kitzhaber Wednesday they support his call for a one-day special session of the Oregon Legislature to deal with education funding reform including revisions to the Public Employee Retirement System.
SALEM — Oregon House members will vote Wednesday on a Democratic plan to cut inflation adjustments in pension checks for retired government workers — a proposal that has angered Republicans and school board members who say it’s far too timid to curtail the system’s rising costs.
My father was a general contractor, as I am. So I learned at a young age that you can’t build a lasting house without first setting a firm foundation.
Between PERS reform and less-than-robust state education budget projections, it is sobering but instructive to pay attention to the fiscal future of classroom programs in 2013-14.
Local government, public education and state agency budgets are stretched thin, and everyone realizes that one solution involves reform of Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System. Turning that perception into reality may be a long and winding legislative road, but a road well worth taking.
