Oregon Tax Reform in the Current Budget Crisis
On March 19th the City Club will welcome a distinguished panel of guests to present "Oregon Tax Reform in the Current Budget Crisis." Tim Nesbitt, Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Kulongoski, Chuck Sheketoff, Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy and Alan Unger, Deschutes County Commissioner and member of the Task Force on Comprehensive Revenue Restructuring will join the City Club for this timely and important discussion.
Oregon is more dependent on personal income tax than any other state in the nation. Given the current budget crisis in the state, and the instability of the Oregon tax system the need for tax reform has become more immediate. The Governor's Task Force on Comprehensive Revenue Restructuring recently made five recommendations for possible changes that are intended to create revenue stability in Oregon. The Task Force focused on how to create adequate systems to fund the services the public wants.
Oregonians continue to hear a variety of perspectives about what to do with the kicker, the creation of a rainy day fund, a sales tax, and a consumption tax. Members of the panel will discuss the process of creating these recommendations, share their perspectives on the effectiveness of the recommendations and the steps taken by the legislature to employ them.
The Forum will begin at 11:30 and conclude at 1:00 p.m. City Club Forums are conducted at St. Charles Center for Health and Learning, 2500 NE Neff Road in Bend.
Preregistration is required by March 16th at 5:00 p.m. The cost to members is $13.00 for lunch. Nonmembers pay $25.00.
Registration for this Forum may be done as follows:
1)Prepay online using your credit card.
2) Use the "contact us" link on the website to register for the event, but pay cash or check at the door.
3) Call the City Club at 541-633-7163 to RSVP and pay at the door. Cash or check is accepted at the door.
Related Links
The Oregon Tax Situation
by Research Committee Members Peter Schneider and Chris Bridges
Revenue task force leader chats about State budget
Oregonians Say Beer and Cigarette Tax Increases OK, but No Sales Tax
Smaller kicker proposed to boost savings
Comprehensive Revenue Restructuring Task Force - Meeting Exhibits
Member Book Recommendations:
The Fair Tax Book and Fair Tax: The Truth
both by Neal Boortz
Speaker Bios
Tim Nesbitt
Deputy chief of staff for the Governor
Tim has been Ted Kulongoski's deputy chief of staff since December 2006. In that capacity, Tim oversees policy staff and advises the Governor on human services, education, public safety and revenue.
In 2007, Tim represented the Governor’s office in the legislative initiative to fix the flaws in Measure 37, which resulted in the referral to the voters of this year’s Measure 49. In 2008, he chaired the Governor’s task force on federal forest payments and county services. As a member of the Board of Higher Education from 2004 to 2006, Tim led a pioneering effort to make higher education more affordable for Oregon students. That effort led to the creation of a new “shared responsibility model” for financial aid and a four-fold increase in the state’s funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant program.
Prior to joining the Governor’s staff, Tim served as the elected president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Tim has been a columnist for the Northwest Labor Press and a frequent contributor of opinion pieces on tax policy and labor issues to newspapers throughout Oregon. Tim has a B.A. in journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Charles "Chuck" Sheketoff
Executive Director for the Oregon Center for Public Policy
Chuck Sheketoff is a founder of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. The OCPP was established due to the "public interest pioneer award" Chuck received from the Stern Family Fund in September, 1997.
Prior to coming to the OCPP, Chuck lobbied the Oregon State Legislature on behalf of legal aid clients (1993, 1995) and the Oregon Law Center (1997). He represented the interests of recipients of Aid to Dependent Children (now called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), food stamps, Medicaid/Oregon Health Plan, General Assistance and long-term care programs. Chuck is intimately familiar with Oregon's welfare system and has been a knowledgeable and harsh critic of state and federal welfare reform. He has also been actively involved in lobbying for changes to Oregon's tax system, and in 1997 he took the lead to help create two new tax credits for the working poor: the state earned income tax credit and the working family child care tax credit.
Alan Unger
Deschutes County Commissioner
Alan graduated from Redmond schools and attended the University of Portland where he earned a BS degree in General Science. He was not sure what path he wanted to take so he worked for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department as a corrections officer in Rocky Butte Jail for a couple of years. He returned to Redmond and started a contracting business specializing in remodeling for 25 years. Alan and a partner owned Redmond-based Central Oregon Paint Supply for approximately 15 years.
In 2001, Central Oregon Partnership hired him as the Redmond advocate addressing the nine root causes of poverty. In 1993, Alan was appointed to the Redmond Area Planning Commission and continued until 2000 when he campaigned for Redmond City Council and was elected. In November of that year, he replaced Ed Fitch as Mayor and continued to be re-elected until 2008 when he ran for Deschutes County Commissioner and won the election.
In 1980, he met wife Beverly Anderson at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The two married in 1983, raised two boys, Robert, 24; and Alex, 22. Beverly has a Bachelor's Degree in Medical Technology and has worked in the laboratory at St. Charles Medical Center in Redmond for 26 years. With the support of family and friends, Alan currently provides care for his elderly father.