Governor to legislators: Put aside partisanship to find ‘winning ideas’

Tough budget decisions on the horizon for 2009 Legislative Session

The Portland Tribune, Jan 12, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (13 Reader comments)

Gov. Ted Kulongoski helped kick start the 2009 Legislative Session Monday morning, telling lawmakers in Salem that they needed to put aside partisan bickering and come up with some “winning ideas” to help dig the state out of its economic hole.

Kulongoski also told the opening day of the session that he would fight to protect education funding and will push legislators to come up with the “political will” to match nearly $1 billion in federal funds to provide health care for every child in the state, from birth to age 19.

“So if I say only one thing today that echoes throughout these chambers – let it be this: The public has had enough of division, stalemate and partisan warfare,” the governor told legislators. “They want something different. They voted for something different. They deserve something better. And it is our responsibility to give them something better.”

Kulongoski’s State of the State address was one of the highlights of Monday’s opening session. The governor used the speech to press lawmakers for support of his proposed $15.8 billion general fund budget he unveiled in December and to “build a wall around funding for education.”

“If we’re going to turn unemployment checks into paychecks, the state must invest in our human infrastructure,” Kulongoski said. “My top priority for this upcoming biennium remains education – because only by creating the best trained, best skilled, best educated work force in America will we be able to create the employment opportunities that are this state’s future.”

He also pushed for support of his “green” industry initiative, saying that Oregon should be at the forefront of any new environmental economic movement.

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