Oregon

New Gov. Tina Kotek’s first budget plan calls for big spending on housing, education and behavioral health

Published

2 years ago

January 31, 2023

New Gov. Tina Kotek’s first budget plan calls for big spending on housing, education and behavioral health

New Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek needs to spend $1 billion within the subsequent two years to protect and construct extra inexpensive housing, funnel greater than $9 billion to public colleges and dedicate tens of millions to extend staffing on the Oregon State Hospital, below a $240.6 billion proposed spending plan launched Tuesday.

A governor’s proposed price range is an ethical doc — a sign to the legislators truly chargeable for balancing the state’s books of what the state’s chief govt considers most essential. So it’s no shock that Kotek’s proposed 2023-25 price range focuses on the central points she talked about on the marketing campaign path: Oregon’s housing disaster, bettering entry to psychological well being and dependancy companies, and bettering outcomes for Oregon college students.

“The housing disaster is without doubt one of the largest emergencies we’ve ever confronted in Oregon and the human struggling it causes to people, households and communities is unacceptable,” Kotek wrote within the price range doc. “We will and should rise to satisfy the second.”

FILE: Gov.-elect Tina Kotek, prepares to enter the inaugural proceedings on the Oregon Capitol in Salem, Ore., Jan. 9, 2023.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

The brand new governor’s housing push is an formidable one. She’s already referred to as on the state to construct 36,000 new properties a yr, a rise of 80% over present manufacturing.

The housing portion of her price range builds on an ask she’s already made to lawmakers: $130 million to stop homelessness for greater than 8,700 households, rehouse 1,200 folks at present with out shelter and create 600 new shelter beds inside one yr.

Kotek’s price range requires making a state Housing Manufacturing and Accountability Workplace to offer technical help and help native governments and housing builders. Underneath her plan, the brand new company will play a central function in serving to reduce land use and allowing limitations that prohibit housing manufacturing.

About 18,000 Oregonians are experiencing homelessness now, in response to state estimates, and about 11,000 of these don’t have any shelter in any way. Oregon has one of many highest homeless pupil charges within the nation, in response to Kotek’s price range, and Native People are 4 instances extra prone to be represented within the homeless inhabitants; different communities of colour are additionally overrepresented.

Along with the $130 million in speedy cash Kotek has requested, listed here are a few of the different housing highlights:

$172.2 million to assist folks connect with long-term rental help
$73 million to create long-lasting homelessness prevention packages in Oregon
$24.1 million to keep up shelter operations, together with the 600 new shelter beds and people created by the Mission Turnkey tasks
$4.5 million to assist individuals who present housing help pay for inexpensive insurance coverage
$5.3 continued emergency response coordinated by the Oregon Division of Emergency Administration and Oregon Housing Neighborhood Providers
$130 million to construct new everlasting supportive housing
$770 million in bonding to assist construct new inexpensive properties for renters and new owners
$118 million to protect present inexpensive properties, together with manufactured properties and one other $4 million to help changing previous and inefficient manufactured properties
$13.6 million for down cost help
$5 million for group land trusts
$9.4 million to enhance group entry to housing by serving to with language translation, technical help to Oregon Housing Neighborhood Providers
$5 million to Oregon’s 9 sovereign tribal nations

Through the 2022 marketing campaign for governor, Kotek was the one main candidate who mentioned she wouldn’t attempt to repeal Measure 110, the pioneering drug decriminalization measure voters handed in 2020. The thought behind the measure was to focus fewer sources on penalizing drug customers and extra on treating them, however the rollout was gradual.

Now, Kotek mentioned, a whole bunch of recent supportive housing and residential placements are within the pipeline, and he or she believes mixed together with her price range proposal the state might lastly transfer away from being “in fixed disaster” and transfer towards “proactive interventions.”

FILE: The Oregon State Hospital is pictured Jan. 27, 2022.
*Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB*

Kotek mentioned she needs to take a position state taxpayer {dollars} to scale back hospitalizations and overdoses, present well timed entry to behavioral well being and supply the least restrictive surroundings for folks to satisfy their wants. She can also be proposing workers will increase and facility upgrades to the state hospital.

Listed here are a few of the different behavioral well being funding highlights:

$195.7 million continued funding for assist and help companies, peer respite facilities, housing for transition-age youth and extra
$40 million to extend further psychological well being residential capability
$14.9 million to fund civil dedication companies, increase jail diversion companies to all counties, intervention and outreach to sufferers earlier than persons are civilly dedicated
$12.3 million for increasing rehabilitation companies
$8.7 million for substance use dysfunction for remedies at Oregon State Penitentiary and Snake River Correctional Establishment
$18.4 million to fund 988 suicide and disaster lifelines
$47.6 million for packages like CAHOOTS to divert folks from hospital and jail
$278.9 million in dependancy remedy, overdose prevention, peer help companies, funded partly by Measure 110 grants
$15 million for inpatient remedy and restoration group facilities
$40 million to scale back deaths related to opioid use
$7.7 million to assist forestall youth and grownup suicides
$127 million for Medicaid fee will increase for elevated wages for behavioral well being staff
$60 million for mortgage compensation, scholarships and tuition stipends for licensed behavioral well being suppliers and college students within the workforce pipeline
$20 million to extend Oregon Well being Authority’s well being care supplier incentive program to recruit and retain various well being care staff
$34.5 million to extend staffing on the Oregon State Hospital
$3.5 million to create a longtime well being fairness unit on the state hospital
$4.2 million for the advanced case administration unit on the Oregon State Hospital
$8 million to improve the hospital amenities and enhance affected person restoration

Oregon’s commencement charges are among the many lowest within the nation, and the state lacks sufficient little one care and early studying companies. Kotek proposes spending huge in bettering pupil literacy and increasing bodily areas for pre-school and little one care.

However the governor is prone to face pushback from college officers for the $9.9 billion she needs to steer towards the State Faculty Fund, which pays for Okay-12 schooling within the state. Whereas state price range officers have mentioned that the fund wants roughly $9.5 billion within the subsequent price range cycle to keep away from service cuts, the Oregon Faculty Boards Affiliation is skeptical of that math and as a substitute believes Kotek and state lawmakers must approve $10.3 billion for Okay-12 colleges to keep away from cuts, Government Director Jim Inexperienced mentioned Tuesday.

Listed here are a few of the different education-spending highlights:

$100 million to extend pupil literacy and guarantee preschool and elementary college educators have the coaching, time and supplies they want
$20 million for summer season packages aimed toward rising literacy
$62.5 rising pay charges for early studying professionals
$41.3 million improve charges for employment-related day care enhancements or ERDC
$5 million to co-locate early childhood schooling and inexpensive housing
$100 million to increase bodily capability of preschool and little one care amenities
$30 million for summer season enrichment programming
$18 million to extend investments in pupil success plans
$1.4 million to implement ethnic research
$4.8 million for rural and small college technical help

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Oregon

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

Published

3 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

A Happy Valley man died Wednesday after being washed out to sea by abnormally high tides just south of Depoe Bay.

It’s the second fatal incident blamed on the so-called “king tides” — the largest tides of the season — this winter.

Hong B Su, 45, was fishing on the rocks of the shoreline at the north end of Otter Crest Loop when he was “washed out to sea by a wave” at roughly 2:04 p.m., according to Oregon State Police.

Su was in the water for approximately 39 minutes before he was recovered by the United States Coast Guard. He was pronounced deceased when he reached the Depoe Bay Coast Guard station.

The tides were near their highest level of the month on Wednesday. The peak of the king tides was recorded on Jan. 12 at 9.84 feet in Newport, and on the day Su was swept into the sea, Jan. 15, they were just a bit lower at 9.33 feet, according to the National Weather Service. On Friday, high tide was under 8 feet. King tides is an unofficial term for the highest tides of the year.

In December, a 72-year-old North Bend man who went to photograph the king tides at the beach also died after apparently being swept into the surf. His body was recovered nearly a month later in Haynes Inlet.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

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Oregon

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Published

11 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Putting the ball in the basket didn’t seem to be a problem for Gonzaga during Thursday night’s battle with Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.

The issue for the Bulldogs (14-5, 5-1 WCC), however, was on the other end of the floor. Led by 29 points from Michael Rataj and 20 from Nate Kingz, the Beavers (14-4, 4-2 WCC) made 58.5% of their field goal attempts to outlast the Zags in a 97-89 overtime final from Gill Coliseum.

“[Oregon State] made shots and [isolated] guys and posted us,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of the Beavers’ attack strategy after the game. “And when we did guard them well, they hit some tough shots [and] some tough pull-ups.”

Here’s more from Few after the loss.

On Gonzaga’s struggles defensively against Oregon State:

Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7) shoots the ball against defensive pressure by Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We played really, really good offense. We just could not get consistent stops for longer stretches. Came out in the second half with more intensity on the defensive end. [The Beavers] were still able to get some tough shots. I mean they had some real backbreakers, the bank 3 and contested 3. Even when we did play good defense, they were able to knock in some really tough shots. You almost have to play perfect on offense when you’re playing defense like that.”

On Graham Ike’s big night:

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) shoots the ball over Oregon State Beavers forward Michael Rataj (12). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“He was great. Graham was terrific. He delivered time and time again in a high-level game against a very good, physical, big postman. You know, you also got a guard at the other end too. So again, our offense wasn’t the problem — our defense was at pretty much all five spots.”

On the positives the Bulldogs can take from the loss:

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) shoots a three point shot against Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We competed, great environment, fought, dug our way back in after our slow start; played some good ball there in the middle of the second half. We just had a couple of possessions, I think we missed a lay-up on one of those; and then again, just not even some of the stops, we foul a lot off the ball. We fouled on the ball. They were able to get critical free throws when they were in the bonus, and you just can’t do that.”

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Oregon

Oregon State Men’s Hoops Stuns Gonzaga, 97-89 in OT

Published

18 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Oregon State Men’s Hoops Stuns Gonzaga, 97-89 in OT

For the first time in 34 years, Gonzaga brought its men’s basketball team to Gill Coliseum.

Over nine thousand Beavers & Bulldogs fans joined them. The first sellout crowd for a Gill Coliseum men’s basketball game in five years got their money’s worth tonight: an overtime thriller that ended in a court-storming.

In the first four minutes, Oregon State raced ahead. A long-range elbow jumper from Demarco Minor gave Oregon State a 4 point edge, and then Nate Kingz stole a Gonzaga pass, drew a foul, and sank two free throws. At the first timeout, Oregon State led 13-7.

Gonzaga slashed the margin to 1 on a Ryan Nembhard wide open three-pointer, after two Oregon State defenders collided. Then, a Bulldogs’ fastbreak bucket after a Michael Rataj miss gifted Gonzaga their first lead of the night.

Teams traded buckets for the next few minutes. With 7:59 remaining, Josiah Lake stole a cross-court pass from Ryan Nembhard and flew down the floor for a Beavers layup, 25-21 Oregon State.

Late in the first half, Nate Kingz erupted. First, the former McNary HS standout spun free of a Gonzaga defender and drilled a jumper near the top of the key. Then, Kingz launched a three point bomb. The crowd surged, Gonzaga coach Mark Few hastily called for timeout, and the scoreboard lit up 35-29 Oregon State.

In the final moments of the opening period, Michael Rataj kept the pace. The German senior notched a second-chance putback layup, but Khalif Battle upset the Beaver wing’s efforts with a buzzer-beating three. At halftime, Oregon State led by the narrowest of margins, 46-45.

Gonzaga’s Graham Ike opened the second half with a game-tying layup, then seized the lead on a free-throw, and the Bulldogs went on a 9-3 run.

Oregon State pulled within 1 on a Demarco Minor stepback jumper with 12:49 left. Then, Parsa Fallah drew a pair of free throws, but the Beaver big couldn’t convert either attempt, and Gonzaga kept its advantage.

But not for long. Soon, Demarco Minor sprang open. As the shot clock wound down, the Beavers guard nailed a game-tying three pointer with 11:08 remaining.

The two West Coast Conference foes resumed their battle. Following a Nolan Hickman layup that lifted Gonzaga back ahead, Nate Kingz tied it with two free throws. Gonzaga’s Graham Ike swung the lead back to the Bulldogs with consecutive makes, 69-65 with 9 minutes left.

Gonzaga seemed poised to land another blow, ahead 76-71 with 5 minutes remaining, but Ryan Nembhard walked. Possession went to the Beavers, who climbed within three on a Michael Rataj jumper. With two minutes left, Demarco Minor brought the crowd to a fever pitch with a game tying fadeaway. Then Michael Rataj hooked one from the right elbow, soaring the Beavers ahead 79-77.

Under a minute remaining, the game got even better. Michael Rataj extended Oregon State’s lead on a beautiful layup that kissed the top of the glass before dropping through the twine, but Clackamas’ own Ben Gregg answered with a Gonzaga three-pointer.

From there, Gonzaga quickly fouled Oregon State. A pair of Beavers free throws made it 83-80 Oregon State with :20 remaining. Needing a triple, the heavily-favored Bulldogs roared back on a game-tying Graham Ike three-pointer with 4 seconds left.

Overtime swung back-and-forth as the teams traded baskets. Leading 89-87 with 2:01 left, Michael Rataj drove inside, drew a decisive fifth personal foul on Graham Ike, and strolled to the charity stripe. The extinguished Gonzaga big finished with 26 points on 9-14 shooting. Rataj calmly hit a pair of free throws, as Oregon State moved ahead 91-87 with 2:01 in OT.

The next Gonzaga possession was denied by a Josiah Lake steal. As time dwindled under a minute, Gonzaga clawed within 2 on a Braden Huff jumpshot.

They never got any closer. Liutauras Lelevicius spun free for a layup, 93-89 Beavers. Then free throws from Josiah Lake and Michael Rataj shut the door. Fans stormed the floor at the overtime buzzer, and the Beavers earned a signature win.

Oregon State moves to 14-5 overall, 4-2 in West Coast Conference play. Gonzaga drops to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference, a half game behind St Mary’s. The Beavers have now won thirteen consecutive matchups against Mark Few’s blue-chip program from Spokane.