Legislative News & Information

April 24, 2005

PERS Information

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September 16, 2002

Legislative Candiates Forum Scheduled
PSU-AAUP and the Oregon Conference of the American Association of University Professors is cosponsoring a Higher Education Legislative Candidates Forum and Lobbying Workshop. The event will be Friday, October 11, 2002 from 12:00-2:00 pm in the Great Hall of the Koinonia House (633 SW Montgomery). For more information, please download a flyer here (Adobe Acrobat document).

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September 16, 2002

Special Session Update
We have received a number of questions regarding the fate of PERS. Tom Barrows of Barrows & Associates, the lobbyists who represent the AAUP in Salem, has sent the following legislative update:

During the Fifth Special Session of the Oregon Legislature the Senate has acted on two Bills dealing with PERS. The first bill would have scrapped PERS altogether and forced the 2003 Legislature to come up with something new. This Bill failed on the Senate Floor 15-15. On Tuesday, September 10, the Senate took up a new bill, SB 1028. SB 1028 would eliminate PERS for those who are hired on or after January 1, 2004. The 2003 Legislature would still have to come up with an alternative for those folks, but anyone already in the PERS system by that time would remain in the System. The Bill would cap the return rate for existing members until the reserve account is fully funded. The current rate would be 8%.

A House Committee has been appointed to deal with this bill. The Committee is Chaired by Rep. Carl Wilson (R-Grants Pass), and its members are Rep. Tom Butler (R-Ontario), Rep. Mark Hass (D-Portland), Rep. Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg), Rep. Jan Lee (D-Clackamas), Rep. Laurie Monnes-Anderson (D-Gresham), and Rep. Tootie Smith (R-Molalla). This Committee has not yet met on this issue and it is believed that there are not enough votes on this Committee to move SB 1028 out of Committee to the floor.

We encourage all members to contact their legislators. You may find your legislator's name and contact information by clicking here for the Senate or by clicking here for the House of Representatives.

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September 3, 2002

Special Session Information
Click here for information on the 2002 Special Sessions.

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May 28, 2002

Urgent! Contact Your Legislator Today!!
The Oregon legislature will be meeting in special session during the first week of June to attempt to address the $1 billion shortfall in the state budget. One of the issues on the table during the June session will be further cuts to higher education. It is estimated that PSU could face a minimum of another $7-7.5 million in cuts on top of the $15 million in cuts that we took between November 2001 and May 2002. These cuts are coming at a time when PSU's enrollment is up and projected to be 22,480 in fall 2002. Even though the special session is tentatively scheduled for June 7, legislators are already meeting to discuss how to address the budget shortfall.

We are asking all PSU faculty members to phone or write their state representatives and state senators this week before Friday, May 31 with the following message:

PSU has been a responsible partner in looking for a solution for the state budget shortfall. We've already taken significant cuts. Our enrollments are up and we project 22,480 students in the fall. Any further cuts will impede our ability to serve the students in this community and to help with Oregon move forward out of the recession. We need a long-term solution to these revenue shortfalls because further cuts in PSU's budget means that we won't be able to accomplish what the community wants us to accomplish.

Please make sure that you message includes information about who you are, that you work at PSU, and how long you've lived in your legislator's district. Also, please phone or email from your home numbers/email accounts.

If you are unsure of your house and senate district or if you would like phone or email contact information for your legislators, please go to the legislative search link on the state of Oregon web site (http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/findset.htm). Or, if you prefer, please contact the AAUP office at 4414 or aaup@psuaaup.org and we'd be happy to find this information for you.

Thank you for taking the time to make these important contacts!

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