skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Oregon Not Putting Enough Away for a Rainy Day

play audio
Play

Wednesday, October 31, 2007   

Silverton, OR – Oregon lawmakers may not be doing enough to protect the state from future economic downturns. A new analysis from the Oregon Center for Public Policy shows the state's first all-purpose "rainy day fund" is an important step, but state reserve amounts are too small to avoid future budget cuts in a recession like the one Oregon saw in 2001. It also comes at the same time the state is preparing to send out kicker tax rebates. Report author Michael Leachman says that's shortsighted.

"When the next recession comes around, Oregonians are going to be kicking themselves for not saving the kicker."

Leachman says while some taxpayers like to get the money back, the kicker will cost both the state and taxpayers in other ways. Individual Oregonians can count on giving about 20 percent of their kickers to the federal government as income taxes. The state will fork over $1 million just to print the checks, and another $45 million in interest payments to cover the cost of the kicker.

Leachman believes the state needs to save more -- and the kickers, both personal and corporate, are an obvious source of revenue.

"It's more money than we expected to have a couple years ago. We ought to be setting it aside for the inevitable recession that's going to come, and we're not doing that. We don't have enough in our reserves."

To view the full OCPP report, visit www.ocpp.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021