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STORIES FOR 2016: A TOP 10 LIST

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write

Seems many news organizations are making lists of top stories for 2016 as that momentous year turns to 2017

So, to join the fray, in the spirit of David Letterman, I have composed my own Top 10 List of pubic policy stories in 2016. Here goes.

  1. MAJOR TAX MEASURE GOES DOWN

For me, the top story had to be the selfish effort by public employee unions to propose a major tax on sales – not profits – that would go to polls in November as Ballot Measure 97. Fortunately for Oregon, the over-the-top tax went down to a major defeat. But that has not stopped the unions; they are proposing an even larger tax hike in the 2017 Oregon Legislature.

  1. POLITICAL LEADERS FAIL TO FIND MIDDLE GROUND ON TAXES

In a related development, Oregon’s political leaders – Governor Kate Brown, House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney – failed to bring unions and business to a negotiating table to avoid the tax measure. In fact, both Brown and Kotek endorsed Measure 97. For me, this failure to display political leadership struck me as almost as important as the tax itself.

  1. DEMOCRATS HOLD POWER IN SALEM

Governor Brown won her own two-year term in the Governor’s Office and Democrats retained majorities in both the House and Senate, though with one vote short of a super-majority in the House, which means it will be tougher for Ds to pass tax increases on their own motion. A good question is how the Ds will use their power in the 2017 legislative session and early signals are there may be continuing tensions with Rs who believe the Ds have shut them out of important committee slots.

  1. REPUBLICAN WINS STATEWIDE OFFICE

This doesn’t happen often in Oregon, so it is important to note that Central Point Republican Dennis Richardson, a former legislator, pulled off the feat by winning the Secretary of State’s Office against a well-funded Democrat. Richardson says he hopes to use the Secretary of State’s audit powers to improve state government, but his first two staff appointments raised eyebrows because the individuals had been involved in previous, high-profile state government controversies. Other than Jack Roberts, a Eugene Republican who won the State Labor Commissioner job, Richardson is the first statewide constitutional office holder since Governor Vic Atiyeh some 35 years ago.

  1. TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PLAN FAILS

Another deficit to lay at the feet of Oregon’s political leaders is the failure to find middle ground on what nearly everyone agrees is necessary – an approach to fund improvements in Oregon’s roads and bridges. Attaching other stuff to the road-bridge funds was its downfall.

  1. HEALTH CARE POLICY RECEDES

Perhaps it should not be a surprise given the fall from power of Oregon’s “health care governor,” Dr. John Kitzhaber, but health care policy issues have remained in the background for almost the entire year.

  1. HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS ON THE RISE

As Oregon health care policy formulations receded, the opposite was true of heath insurance premiums – they went up as ObamaCare came home to roost in Oregon and other states. Every Oregon health insurance company but one is proposing double-digit rate increases for the individual market in 2017, with two of the biggest players — Moda Health Plans and Providence Health Plans — both seeking to raise rates by nearly a third. Seven of the 12 insurers in the small-group market are also seeking increases, albeit smaller than those in the individual market.

  1. STATE AGENCY MISMANAGEMENT

Many governors would have had difficulty surviving a list of state agency management blunders – chief among them huge foster care problems in the Department of Human Services (DHS). However, Governor Brown survived them and even won re-election. [A footnote: Governor Brown’s appointment of veteran state agency manager Clyde Saiki as head of DHS is a solid step, one that is likely to put the agency in a far better position.]

  1. REPUBLICAN LEADERS REMAIN IN PLACE

Even though Republicans were not able to cut much into Democrat control of the Legislature, they kept their two leaders in place – Representative Mike McLane and Senator Ted Ferrioli who both hail from Eastern Oregon.

  1. EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING: A FAD, NOT A COMMITMENT

Even as residents in Salem and elsewhere were asked to focus on taking steps to survive earthquakes, policymakers retreated on steps to prepare the State Capitol and school districts for the problems. Even Senate President Peter Courtney, who had been an advocate for retrofitting the “People’s Building,” the State Capitol, retreated in the face of opposition from House Speaker Tina Kotek. So, zero progress on this major public policy issue.

FOOTNOTE: And, in a result that almost made my Top 10 List, Beaverton legislator Tobias Read won a hard-fought State Treasurer race, thus setting up what could be a later run for governor. Back in college, he said being governor would interest him. Of course, several years hence is an eternity in politics, especially if, on the D side, Governor Brown runs again as she could do for a regular four-year term and new Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler continues to perform well in public office. And, who knows which Rs will emerge for the state’s top political job.

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