Sen. Richard Devlin Takes Issue with Gov. John Kitzhaber's Budget

Republicans surrendered two seats in the Oregon Senate in the November election and one in the Oregon House. That meant they gave up much of their ability to serve as a check on Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.

That role—to the extent anyone fills it—will now fall to members of his own party, such as state Sen. Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin). Now in his 18th year as a lawmaker, Devlin, a retired legal investigator, is co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, which writes the state's budget.

Devlin recently met with Kitzhaber, in part to share concerns about some of the assumptions and decisions that framed the governor's 576-page budget.

Other potential pitfalls include an Oregon Supreme Court ruling on 2013 PERS reforms. The state is banking on the court rubber-stamping $5 billion in savings over the next two decades. A reversal by the court would wipe out Kitzhaber's reserves.

The governor's budget also depends on rosy projections for tax receipts and optimistic projections for savings from healthcare reform. At a minimum, Devlin says, he wants a 1 percent reserve—about twice what Kitzhaber proposes.

The Checkbook.

In his budget message, Kitzhaber talked about a new "sustainable" approach to spending. Devlin is skeptical.

He notes that the governor wants to fund about $120 million in state employee pay increases from reserves at the Public Employee Benefit Board, a state insurance pool. Devlin's concern is that you can only spend that reserve once, but the employees will continue to get paid.

"You are actually creating a hole in the next budget by doing that," Devlin says.

Devlin says overall he's glad Kitzhaber is approaching the budget says he worries that the governor and some of his fellow Democrats misunderstand the concepts of budget savings. He compares the shift of $57 million in forgone corrections spending that Kitzhaber wants to invest in new community programs to a cash-strapped car buyer who's proud of himself for passing up a new Corvette for a cheaper model.

WWeek 2015