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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 15, 2005 Buckley settles into role as state representative By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Rookie legislator Peter Buckley has wrapped up his first week of whirlwind activity in Salem. "It is constant motion," Buckley, a Democrat from Ashland who is serving in the Oregon House of Representatives, said Friday night by cell phone while driving back to Southern Oregon. "The Surgeon General says people need at least one hour of physical activity a day. We probably get 10 or 11 or 12 hours of physical activity. There's a lot of going up and down staircases trying to get to meetings." In addition to spending time on his feet, Buckley will be spending a lot of time in his car. He has rented a basement apartment in Salem but hopes to return to Ashland on weekends. The Legislature's main priority is crafting the biennial budget for the state, he said. To help balance the budget and secure money for education and other needs, Buckley said he is introducing two bills to suspend the corporate kicker that returns tax revenues. That would save $43 million - $1 million of which could go to aid Oregon National Guard families, with $15 million for community colleges and $25 million earmarked for the university system, he said. Buckley also plans to introduce a tax amnesty bill to encourage people and businesses to pay the $1.3 billion in taxes currently overdue without fear of penalties for a year. After that year, penalties would be severe under his plan. Some legislators, Buckley included, also think restaurant and bar owners receive overblown payments for state gambling in their establishments. He would like to see smaller payments, with more gambling revenues directed toward education. Representatives and senators from Southern Oregon met together already this week and both Democrats and Republicans agree on the importance of securing funding for a joint Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College building in downtown Medford, according to Buckley. "That would create a seamless move for students from community college to the university system. It would make the most of both institutions," he said. Buckley said legislators must put aside divisions and find funding for education, health care and economic development. "If we can get back to making even small investments, we can have huge pay-offs," he said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams