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October 13. 2014 2:00AM Q&A: Dave Dotterrer If elected, what will be your top priority as an Oregon state senator? Job creation, particularly for Southern Oregon and Oregon rural areas. We have a real problem in Jackson County with poverty, and the best solution to poverty is a good job. What would you change about the health care system in Oregon? I would end Cover Oregon. It was a disaster and a failure of leadership and oversight by the Oregon Legislature. The functions of Cover Oregon can be replaced by other state agencies and the federal exchange. If Oregon revenues come in 2 percent higher than projected in 2013, what would you like to see happen with the additional revenue or kicker at the end of the fiscal, two-year budget cycle? I would like to see the kicker money go into a rainy-day fund until it reached an adequate level to cover inter-budgetary crises, and any remaining funds would then go back to taxpayers. What has been proposed by some brilliant senators is a rainy-day fund to cover recessions and economic slowdowns when revenue drops. If we had a rainy-day fund of about 15 percent of our previous budget, then we would be able to cover 95 percent of those crises. Oregon’s minimum wage is currently set at $9.10. Do you advocate a higher minimum wage? If so, what do you consider fair pay? I do not advocate a higher minimum wage, and my concern is two-fold. A higher minimum wage, according to the Congressional Budget Office, leads to a loss of jobs. Also, minimum-wage jobs are where you get on the economic ladder. If you raise the minimum wage and you lose all those jobs, then you lose the bottom rung of that ladder. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141013/NEWS/141019915 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->