PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH 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.

There should be no surprise if you read a story in The Oregonian newspaper about what the Oregon Legislature might do this year in Salem as lawmakers start what is likely to be a five-month session at the Capitol.

They will make a turn to the left.

If nothing else, that is logical given what happened in the fall elections. Democrats won a new four-year term in the Governor’s Office, took a super-majority in the Oregon House, and won a similar super-majority in the Oregon Senate.

That means Democrats, most of whom tend to be left of center, can do what they want in the next five months without trying to find Republicans votes. That includes, especially, proposals for tax increases, of which there appear to be many.

Now, to be fair, it is proper to report that Senate President Peter Courtney – this will be his eighth long session in the Senate’s top job – often looks for bi-partisan support before bringing pieces of legislation up for final vote in the Senate. Looks, but does not always find.

That may be his instinct again, but, if the Senate gets tax increase bills from the House – tax increases must be considered first in the House – he’ll face substantial pressure to schedule Senate floor action even if there are no Republican votes in sight.

By noting that the governor and the Legislature are turning to the left, I mean no disrespect. That, in fact, is the price of the recent election.

Still, from my position in the cheap seats, I hope that Democrats would find a way to work with Republicans on at least a few issues. That’s the way our democracy is supposed to work, but we’ll see if a bi-partisan has any chance to work in Salem.

From the Oregonian, here is a list of what Governor Kate Brown and Democrat leaders in the House and Senate hope to be able to do this session:

* Governor Brown says she hopes the Legislature’s first order of business will be to pass a tax package to continue funding the state’s Medicaid program. The proposal here will be to pass taxes on major Oregon hospitals, taxes on commercial health insurance bills, and new taxes on tobacco.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was involved in lobbying the early stages of the hospital and insurance taxes a number of years ago and I came away with substantial questions about the worth of such taxes.

On one hand, the health care taxes are an expedient to create a new pot of state money that can be used to garner federal matching dollars under Medicaid. If the “new money” goes to low-income health care, good.

But over the years, once the new taxes begin to produce revenue, there is no way to assure that the money goes to meet the purpose of the taxes in the first place. He money just becomes, to use a government budget word, “fungible” general fund dollars that could end up anywhere in the overall budget.

Still, I would count, now, on the new taxes to be in place by the end of the legislative session.

* Democrats say they are intent on passing a requirement for guns to be stored safely, out of the reach of children, and they want to restrict gun access for people who have domestic violence restraining orders against them. Those goals will go down hard with Republicans from rural Oregon.

* Brown and legislative Democrats want to raise at least $2 billion per biennium in new business taxes to spend on improving schools. New tax revenue could also help the state cover hefty payments that schools and other governments must make to the public employee pension fund. Most of the money would likely come from a gross receipts or value added tax, but Democrats are eyeing a multitude of tax increases.

The proceeds from the new taxes, at least in theory, would be devoted to shrinking class sizes, adding days to the school year and expanding career-technical education, all laudable goals. But, so far, not enough attention has been paid to the cost of the new taxes – costs in the way of businesses not creating as many new jobs as they might do without the taxes.

* Leading Democrats want to impose statewide rent controls, a national first, and ban most evictions unless the landlord shows cause. Tenant rights activists are split on the proposal, which also maintains a ban on local rent control policies.

* House Speaker Tina Kotek,  D-Portland, has proposed allowing duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes on  all single-family lots in cities with more than 10,000 residents. The goal is to increase the housing supply and create lower-cost rental options, but the proposal could face stiff opposition from neighborhood groups.

* Kotek, Courtney and the governor all say they want to pass a carbon cap-and-spend program to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Brown has proposed giving Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp direct allocations of emissions allowances instead of forcing the companies to purchase them in state auctions, a strategy that could make it easier to pass the plan.

* House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, also wants to scrap the state’s decades old non-unanimous jury law, which allows juries in most felony cases — aside from murder — to convict defendants with a 10-2 vote. The change will require an amendment to the Oregon Constitution, which Democratic leaders hope to refer to voters this session.

* Democrats have for years wanted to require Oregon employers to provide paid family and medical leave so, for example, parents can spend time with their new babies and people can take time off to care for sick family members. A bi-partisan work group has been discussing the issue but Williamson, who has championed the idea, was not brimming with optimism that it would pass this session.

If you look at this list of priorities, it is interesting to note the lack of any announced intent to take a critical look at current state spending. It’s as if the goal will be to continue state spending for another two years and tack numerous tax increases on top of that “business as usual approach.”

Senator Fred Giron, R-Stayton, showed up this week with a proposed bill he labeled a “zero-based budgeting bill.” It would require state agencies to justify all spending from the ground up instead of assuming the past budget, then adding to it. Don’t look for Girod’s bill go anywhere.

I know that many legislators from both sides of the political aisle would be capable to look at state budgets with a constructively critical eye. That includes legislators who serve on the Joint Ways and Means Committee (which handles the overall state budget).

If that kind of process were to go forward, it could even add a bit of political heft to the need for new taxes to fund K-12 education and low-income health care.