Oregon Public Broadcasting

Governor Ted Kulongoski unveiled his plan Monday, to both stimulate Oregon’s economy and improve its transportation infrastructure.

He says putting people to work on infrastructure jobs will force money through the economy and dig the state out of recession.

Kristian Foden-Vencil was in Salem for the Governors speech and he spoke with OPB's Allison Frost:

OPB’s Kristian Foden-Vencil spoke with Allison Frost in our Portland studios.  

Frost: "Governor Kulongoski said today he wants to raise about $500 million dollars a year, which will fund 6000 new transportation jobs."

Foden-Vencil:  "Right."

Frost: "So where is the money going to come from?"

Foden-Vencil: "In a nutshell – our pockets.  History is ripe with examples of the kind of program Kulongoski is talking about. He referenced some of those in his speech.
Think back to the late 1930’s and Franklin D. Roosevelt. His ‘Worker Progress Administration’ built Timberline Lodge in an effort to get people back to work. That was paid for by taxes and that’s essentially what Kulongoski says is needed now. So his proposed ‘Jobs and Transporation Act’ would:
hike the gas tax by 2-cent per gallon; introduce a new ‘first time title fee’ -- for when you buy a new car;
it would double the current ‘title fee;’ and increase the registration fee from $27 dollars a year to $81 dollars.  Those increases would raise the money needed to generate the six thousand new jobs. Here’s how Kulongoski put it."

Kulongoski: “I think this is the way to get Oregon out of this crisis, put the people to work, that’s what it’s all about.”

Foden-Vencil: "I should explain that past economic stimulus packages were temporary. Like in Oregon’s last recession, in 2003, the legislature authorized two-and-a-half billion dollars to be spent on roads and bridges. It’ll keep about 44-hundred people employed until the year 2013. But then it’s expected to sunset. This stimulus package, on the other hand, would be permanent."

Frost: "But of course, you can't keep building  building roads and bridges indefinately, so what would this mean?"

Foden-Vencil: "Well a lot of the work we're talking about is maintenance -- many of us will remember the bridge in Minnesota that fell into the river last year. But the governor stressed that this package is not only aimed at traditional transportation – i.e. cars on roads.  There’s also money for rail in this package; for the elderly and disabled transit bus system; and to encourage the use of more electric vehicles."

Frost: "Now Democrats have the super majority necessary to push a tax increase through Salem. But does the governor plan to simply force this package into law?"

Foden-Vencil: "No, he says he expects a ‘vigorous debate’ from his Republican colleagues. And a look at the bill proves he has tried to generate bipartisan support. For example, it would create a trust fund for timber dependent counties – that might lose their federal forest payments in four years. There’s also money for the smaller roads in Oregon’s rural areas."

Frost: "Taxpayers are being asked for a lot right now. There are two wars going on, we’re bailing out Wall Street and the Governor wants a new stimulus package. What are Republicans saying about this?"

Foden-Vencil: "Well some see the wisdom in a plan like this. Others say this is a big boon for unions and pay-back for their support during the elections. This Oregon stimulus package would generate thousands of family-wage union jobs. A similar stimulus package is being discussed at the federal level and on Friday I asked Senator Wyden about the  idea. Here’s what he said:"

Wyden: “I’m in Lane County and we’re looking at a road improvement program in an area where a youngster was killed. And they’re concerned about real safety issues contributing to that tragedy. So I don’t think something like that is a partisan issue. This is about what’s cost effective, what is targeted. Yes you have to make a handful of investments in order to get the economy on track and I don’t think there’s anything like road repair, road improvements that can be more of an economic multiplier.”

Foden-Vencil: "That muliplier idea is key to this plan. Jason Tell with the Oregon Department of Transportation says that for every dollar spent on improving the roads, you get $3 and 20 cents in economic activity."

Tell: “What that means is the construction worker that gets a pay check for working on a job may go to a store and buy a television, or they may go to lunch and buy a sandwich. That creates money that is going into those small businesses, which are ordering from a grocery, or ordering that TV set from a manufacture, so $3 return for every dollar invested is a pretty good return.”


Frost: "So now that Kulogoski's laid out his plan, where does it go from here?"

Foden-Vencil: "Well that's where the real action begins--the governor plans to introduce his 'Jobs and Transporation Act' when the legislature convenes in January."