Oregon Ways and Means hearings on roads begin April 19th

(Hat tip: Pat Dysart) Oregon Legislative Assembly: (SALEM) – House Co-Chairs Peter Buckley and Dennis Richardson and Senate Co-Chair Richard Devlin announced today that the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee will hold four public budget hearings around the state over the next three weeks.

The hearings will begin at the Sylvania campus of Portland Community College, 5-7 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, (full schedule attached) and will include stops in Bend, Medford, and Newport with video conferencing hook-ups to Pendleton and Coos Bay.

"Two years ago, input from people across the state helped to guide our decisions on the programs we should protect,” said Buckley (D-Ashland). This year, in even tougher budget conditions, I am counting on the citizens of Oregon to shine a light on the path they want us to take to help Oregon emerge from this economic recession."

“The Legislature faces very difficult decisions as we work to pass a balanced state budget. I encourage citizens to attend these very important hearings to share their ideas, priorities and concerns,” said Richardson (R-Central Point).

“The public process is crucial to our decisions on how to balance this budget and protect critical services that Oregonians rely on,” said Devlin (D-Tualatin). “The Legislature is the people’s branch of government and I am committed to making sure this budget isn’t written behind closed doors.”

The co-chairs released their budget outline in late March. It can be found at http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lfo/2011_13CoChairBudget.pdf.

Contacts:

Robin Maxey, (503) 986-1605

Steve Lindsley, (503) 986-1210

NOTE: This concerns which programs are deleted from the State Budget in case you are interested in attending. SEIU will be there. Others?