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Bates, Hannon drop tax talk By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidiings In what amounts to a bi-partisan pullback from proposing a sales tax, Rep. Alan Bates and Sen. Lenn Hannon said today they were running out of time to look for new sources of revenue. "We're going to delay committing to the sales tax proposal until the (2001-2003) budget crisis is settled. Right now we're pushing against the window of being able to solve the budget prior to July 3," said Hannon, an Ashland Republican. Earlier this month, the state's Department of Revenue found a new budgetary shortfall of between $90 to $300 million, on top of the $112 million shortfall found last December. According to Bates, an Ashland Democrat, shortfalls in income are putting a pinch on the state's purse strings, and until that issue is settled the sales tax talk will have to be shelved for at least a few weeks. "What we didn't count on is the 01-03 mess. This chasm has opened up. We were thinking we could barely skate through after the 01-03 budget, and then a few weeks later we get another hit. Now we have to open up the old budget, and we have two weeks to fix it. It's like another special session - it puts everything else on hold," Bates said. "We're looking every place we can to find or steal money - there's discussions about borrowing $110 million from the rainy day fund, and discussions about borrowing against the tobacco settlement revenues. But we're still left with making cuts that are dramatic and breathtaking," Bates said. "Like Alan said, we're looking at the tobacco settlement money, as well as dipping into the rainy day school fund. What these issues highlight is that we're back to the mode of one-time borrowing. It's not good, and it takes away our future options when there's still a great deal of uncertainty here in Oregon," Hannon said. Hannon cited uncertainty over the possible war in Iraq, as well as the potential of a drop in the level of federal matching funds for the state. "The thing is somebody's got to pay for the war effort, and it becomes a domino effect. If one goes, then other things throughout the state will be impacted," Hannon said. Hannon and Bates had been working on putting a sales tax proposal together to help diminish the state's massive budget shortfall, caused in part by the failure of Measure 28 at the polls. Despite the fact that Oregon has a long history of being hostile to new taxes, both legislators said they felt the state should search for new sources of revenue, rather than face draconian cuts to law enforcement, health care and social services. But in a legislative conference call today - sponsored by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, and held in a briefing room donated for the purpose by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival - both lawmalers said they were backing off on the tax, for now. In the meantime, both Hannon and Bates said they were working with other legislators to put a budget proposal together by the end of the month. "We're continuing to look for new ideas about how to cope with the revenue shortfall, and we'll be asking for support when we push to get new revenue in the future," Bates said. Whether they'll get additional support from other legislators in Salem over a sales tax - or other revenue measure - remains unclear. "It depends on whose ox is being gored," Hannon quipped. "Some people in this process are going to have to have a reality check. Our opportunities are limited, and we're bound by the constitution to balance the budget. If we can't balance the budget, we're obligated to find new revenue sources. I really wish (other legislators) would read the constitution - not for their rights - but for their responsibilities," Hannon said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -