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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 9, 2005 Freshman Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, has been studying the House of Representatives rule book in preparation for the session that begins Monday. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Overcoming the ghosts of sessions past Freshman lawmakers head to Salem for Monday’s opening session of an Oregon House haunted by partisan divisions and budget shortfalls Stories by DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune They are some of the freshest faces in Salem, but Jackson County’s two new House representatives will need their freshman enthusiasm to help overcome any divisiveness still lingering from the longest legislative session in state history two years ago. Political opposites, Ashland Democrat Peter Buckley and Medford Republican Sal Esquivel hope the spirit of cooperation they’ve cultivated between themselves will become the dominant theme in corridors of power still haunted by the ghosts of the past. "I don’t think anybody benefited by how it was handled in the last session," said Buckley, who was setting up his office at the Capitol last week. "Everybody was bruised by it." Buckley and Esquivel expect the session that starts Monday to last at least six months, with the thorniest issue before them the $12 billion state budget. The major point of contention in the last Legislature — raising taxes — should be a non-issue this time. After two failed attempts to get voter support for temporary tax increases, legislators and the governor have decided to live within their means. Advertisement "How many times do you get thumped before you don’t do that?" said Esquivel. Esquivel, who served as interim senator last year, said the public needs to get a better understanding of how its government works and the Legislature needs to make a commitment to uncovering wasteful spending. "The one thing I’ve noticed about Salem, it reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. ... It’s so inaccessible to people," said Esquivel. To make it more accessible, Esquivel, Buckley, Sen. Alan Bates, Rep. George Gilman and Rep. Dennis Richardson have kicked in $200 each to buy equipment to provide a live feed of the session over RVTV Channel 30 starting at noon Monday. They and other Southern Oregon legislators also will push for a project that could have a major impact on the future of higher education in the Rogue Valley. Gov. Ted Kulongoski has set aside $23 million in his proposed budget to build a facility in downtown Medford that would be used by both Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College students."We will be united on that SOU and RCC building and the impact it will have on Jackson County," Buckley said. While Buckley and Esquivel share some beliefs, the two legislators have differing opinions about how the budget process should play out. Buckley described the governor’s proposed budget, released in early December, as the bedrock upon which the Legislature can create a spare spending plan that will unfortunately hurt some programs such as Project Independence, which helps seniors. Buckley said he wants to explore different ways of raising money for projects, among them discontinuing the corporate kicker temporarily, funneling most of the $43 million back to higher education. He also wants to set aside $1 million of that money to help National Guard families. But proposals like the corporate kicker, which would need a two-thirds vote in both houses, would be an uphill battle, he admitted. Looking for more efficiency in government, Buckley said he is perplexed by many of the facts and figures he sees in the governor’s proposed budget. He noticed, for example, that in the Department of Human Services spending plan, the number of full-time staff would remain the same but overall funding would increase by 3.7 percent. He understands the raise is needed to make up for benefits and cost-of-living increases. But Buckley said he doesn’t understand why various programs are being cut if staffing remains the same. "We want to make sure the money’s going to the front lines," he said. On the other hand, Buckley said, he doesn’t want the Legislature to focus entirely on a witch hunt to ferret out mismanaged programs. "We focus so intensely on that waste in the system that we neglect the important services that are provided," he said. Esquivel admitted that he hasn’t had a chance to look at the governor’s budget. "I just got it the other day," he said. Setting aside the proposed budget, Esquivel said the Legislature ultimately will make funding decisions based on what services are absolutely necessary to serve the citizens of Oregon. "Do we want to water the soup down or do we want good soup?" he said. "Do you want a half-funded program or do you want a fully funded program?" Esquivel said he supports giving education the full $5.2 billion it needs to remain at current service levels. While the governor’s budget offers only $5 billion, Esquivel said he suspects there might be another $200 million or $300 million available that education supporters have chosen not to talk about. He said he couldn’t reveal specifics of where this money would come from. Esquivel hopes the Legislature will eventually decide to give control of the funding of schools back to the local school districts. "Would you rather have people up here making those decisions (about schools), or would you rather have people down there making those decisions?" he said. Legislators will have a lot of explaining to do with their constituents, he said, showing clearly where their tax dollars are going. "The message I’m picking up on from the public is that: ‘We think you have enough money, and we want you to be efficient and we want you to live within your means,’" he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers