Lottery bond spending irks east Linn rep

By Hasso Hering
Albany Democrat-Herald

It’s been more than two months since it happened, but the way the legislature allocated money for economic development still rankles with Fred Girod, the state representative from east Linn County.

“This is a pork bill and it needs to go down,” Girod said when the House debated HB 5036 on June 25 before approving it,

42-18.

The bill authorized $409 million in bonds, to be paid off from lottery proceeds.

Some $250 million was allocated toward a light rail line in the Portland area, and $7 million toward construction of a $16 million parking garage for Pacific University in Hillsboro.

Girod brought the issue up again in an interview last week.

“That’s a ridiculous amount of money,” he said about the light rail spending. “Also, it comes out of a fund designed to help communities that are not doing real well. You can’t tell me that Hillsboro and Portland are having problems financially.”

For example, he says, Idanha in the Santiam Canyon still has wooden water pipes that need to be replaced. And Sweet Home, too, he said, needs help with upgrading its water system.

The bond package included $5 million this year for dredging the channel at Coos Bay, which Girod supports except that he says the amount should have been more.

The package approved by the legislature does call for another $55 million to go toward the channel project in 2009 and 2011. Coos Bay hopes to develop as a container port, backers of the bill said during the House debate.

Some $69 million in the package was dedicated to capital construction at the state universities.

Girod, R-Stayton, says that during the debate he was barred from using the word “pork” to describe the bill.

Actually, according to the audio recording available online, Girod asked the carrier of the bill how many of the projects getting funded were in Democratic districts but was ruled out of order.

Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, objected to his question, suggesting that imputing a partisan motive to the allocation of funds was not germane to the bill.

House Speaker Jeff Merkley, D-Portland, agreed and said Girod could not ask about any partisan issues, but he didn’t bar him from saying “pork,” which in fact Girod did say as the debate concluded.

Also included in the bill is $20 million for streetcars to be made in Oregon and $3 million for Oregon Public Broadcasting for digital transmitters.

The Legislative Revenue Office estimated that paying off the bonds would reduce available state revenue about $65 million in each of 10 two-year budget periods.

Other mid-valley House members who voted against the bill were Republicans Brian Boquist of Dallas and Andy Olson of Albany.

In the Senate, the bill passed 27-2. Only Roger Beyer, whose district also includes east Linn, voted no, along with Jeff Kruse of Roseburg.

The governor signed the bill on July 3.