Murmurs: Budget Raises Booze Tax Flap

BUDGET RAISES BOOZE TAX FLAP: Gov. Kate Brown released her proposed 2021-23 budget Dec. 1, and conspicuously absent were increases in taxes on alcoholic beverages that the advocacy group Oregon Recovers and its allies wanted. As WW reported in September, the Oregon Health Authority had included tax increases on wine and beer in its proposed budget for next year in response to pressure from Oregon Recovers and several allied groups. Those would have been the first such increases in 40 years. Supporters of the taxes said in a Nov. 29 Oregonian op-ed that Brown would deliver them. But after vigorous opposition from the alcohol industry, long a powerhouse in the Capitol, Brown released a budget that left taxes on alcohol unchanged. "The governor's recommended budget for 2021-23 does not include an increase on beer and wine taxes," said Brown's spokesman Charles Boyle. The Oregon Beverage Alliance, a trade group, applauded Brown for skipping "harmful tax increases."

HOSPITALS SICK OVER BROWN'S BUDGET: Gov. Kate Brown's budget also brought cries of pain from Oregon's hospitals, which are currently dealing with an unprecedented number of COVID-19 patients. (Five hundred seventy-seven patients are hospitalized with COVID as of Dec. 1, up from 171 on Nov. 1). The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems spent heavily to pass Measure 108 in November. That measure increased the tax on cigarettes by $2 a pack and will generate more than $100 million a year in new revenue for the Oregon Health Authority, which provides funding to hospitals through the state's Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan. Brown's proposed budget would reduce hospital system revenue by a similar amount through reduced reimbursement rates and a lower assumed medical inflation rate. Becky Hultberg, CEO of the hospital association, says Brown's budget, released Nov. 30, takes money away from OAHHS members when they need it most. Hultberg said hospital revenue dropped 21% during the first six months of the year. "[Brown] has chosen to propose direct cuts to hospitals in the midst of the biggest public health crisis in a century," Hultberg said in a statement. "Cuts of this magnitude could force hospitals to reduce services to Oregonians during a pandemic. These cuts cannot be justified." Brown's spokeswoman Elizabeth Merah responded: "Our hospitals are absolutely critical. However, with 150,000 Oregonians joining the Oregon Health Plan rolls since the pandemic, we can't protect the plan, cut taxes and not pursue any cost savings in the health care system all at once."

NO CHARGES YET IN THANKSGIVING VANDALISM: A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge dismissed criminal charges against three suspects arrested amid an early Thanksgiving morning vandalism spree, court records say. Shortly after 1 am on Nov. 26, the Portland Police Bureau responded to reports of a black-clad group breaking windows and vandalizing businesses along Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, including the New Seasons market and a Bank of America. Police later located a group they say "carr[ied] evidence connecting them to the vandalism," and arrested three people believed to be affiliated with the damage: Chester Hester, 24 Nicole Noriega, 38, and Bailey Willack, 23. All three were booked into the Multnomah County Jail on 10 counts of criminal mischief. On Nov. 27, Circuit Judge Benjamin Soude dismissed all of the charges, court records say. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office said it rejected the cases and referred them back to law enforcement for further investigation. "We expect that upon the completion of that investigative follow-up, these cases will be resubmitted and rescreened for prosecution," Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for the DA's office, tells WW.

GOVERNOR'S RACE BEGINS: Dr. Bud Pierce, the Salem cancer physician who spent $1.7 million of his family's money in a failed challenge to Gov. Kate Brown in 2016, announced Nov. 30 he's trying again for the open governor's seat in 2022. "The citizenry is frustrated and unsettled, and I am a far stronger candidate than I was in 2016," said Pierce, 64, in an email to supporters. (After press deadlines, Pierce's wife, Selma Pierce, was killed by a car in Salem.) Numerous Democrats are also considering a bid, including Meyer Memorial Trust chief investment officer Rukaiyah Adams, Secretary of State-elect Shemia Fagan, Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury, House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), Metro Council President Lynn Peterson, State Treasurer Tobias Read, and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW's parent company.)

TECHFESTNW STARTS TODAY: TechfestNW, WW's three-day celebration of the entrepreneur in all of us, has moved to its natural home: online. Originally scheduled to host its ninth year in the spring, TechfestNW is now a virtual event starting Dec 2. Speakers include Facebook's No. 1 enemy; the founder of Siri; the new president of Oregon's most storied tech company, Tektronix; and a Portlander who is one of TikTok's bigger stars. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds go to three local nonprofits. Visit techfestnw.com for tickets and details.