Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski

Welcome to the DGA Governor’s Spotlight, where we feature a different Democrat governor each month to show examples of our innovative work across the country.

In Oregon, I have brought people together to solve some of our state’s most difficult issues. During my term, we have worked hard to generate more than a 132,000 new jobs, protect older Oregonians from fraud and abuse, improve the minimum wage and strengthen worker safety laws. We have also launched bold new initiatives to ensure that our children are well-educated, healthy, and safe.

When I became governor, Oregon faced a $3-billion deficit. I implemented economic policies that make sense, and reformed the state’s failed budget practices. Now, our state’s economy is the fifth-fastest-growing state economy in America. We have expanded business opportunities, and our employment rate has reached a record level.

My administration created a health care program that vastly expanded access to prescription drugs to low-income Oregonians, and we are fighting to reduce the cost of medicine to everyone through our innovative state buying pool. And like the governors of Illinois, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania, I’m working to provide health care coverage to every child in the state.

These are just a few of actions we have taken to improve the quality of life for Oregonians. Visit my Web site to learn about our progress and my vision to move Oregon even further forward. Thank you for visiting the DGA Web site, and enjoy your time in the Governor’s Spotlight.

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Gov. Kulongoski in the News

Editorial: Kulongoski Deserves Re-election: Gov. Ted Kulongoski has a résumé that’s hard to beat, with experience in all three branches of Oregon government. He proved his courage and independence by taking on the Public Employees Retirement System in face of opposition by some of his strongest supporters. He’s forthright enough to tell Oregonians that some other guy can’t pay for their services—that they may have to consider what he calls a consumption tax. He has doggedly tried to pull the state from its economic doldrums, whether that means hawking Oregon products in Asia or converting state land to an industrial park in Salem or convening summit after summit of business leaders. Read more

Kulongoski Vows to Protect Payday Loan Regulations: Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he will use his veto, if necessary, to thwart any move by the payday loan industry to overturn new regulations that were approved in last week’s special legislative session. “Predatory lending, which victimizes people who are already skating on thin financial ice, has no place in Oregon,” the governor said. Read more

Kulongoski Signs Public School Funding Increase: Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a bill Tuesday giving $42 million in unexpected lottery revenue to the state’s public schools. The allocation, passed during a special legislative session Thursday, marks the first time in decades that lawmakers have increased school funding in the middle of the state’s two-year budget cycle. “The most important investment we can make is to make sure students get a good education,” Kulongoski said. “This funding helps achieve this objective.” Read more

Kulongoski Signs “Jessica’s Law”: Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Monday signed “Jessica’s Law,” a measure passed during last week’s special legislative session to increase criminal penalties for sexual predators who victimize young children. The new law increases mandatory minimum sentences for offenders convicted of first-degree rape, sodomy or unlawful penetration if the victim is under 12. The new law sets the minimum sentence at 25 years. “Jessica’s Law sends an unmistakable message to potential child abusers—act out and the state of Oregon will take you off the streets for years and years,” Kulongoski said. Read more

Kulongoski Unveils Education Plan: Gov. Ted Kulongoski went public on Saturday as the man with the $6 billion plan. Kulongoski announced that he’ll ask the Legislature to provide $6 billion for schools in the 2007-2009 budget cycle. Kulongoski also used his speech to promote his “education enterprise”—a proposal to dedicate 61 percent of the state’s general fund to schools, from pre-kindergarten proposals through the university and graduate system, which he said would bring down the state’s notoriously high class sizes and add programs that have been cut in the past few years. Read more

Kulongoski Presses for More School Funds: Days after calling for a special session to address school funding, Gov. Ted Kulongoski pressed Wednesday for immediate legislative action that would send a nationwide message that Oregon “cares about its public schools.” “The message I want to send to you today is we have the opportunity to do something great for Oregon in the days ahead,” he said. “We will invest in our public schools, because we understand that our long-term economic health depends on educating the best and brightest workforce.” Read more

Kulongoski Proposes Limits on Check Cashers: Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he will propose a bill next year to limit charges by Oregon check-cashing services to 3 percent or $5, whichever is greater. The governor and other critics say check cashers’ fees are unreasonably high and hit people who can least afford them, generally low-income residents without bank accounts. “Charging working Oregonians a fee equal to 8 percent of their take-home pay just to cash paychecks is simply unacceptable,” the governor said. Read more

Kulongoski Touts State’s Tourism Expansion: Tourism spending in Oregon increased 7.4 percent in 2005, hitting a total of $7.4 billion, according to statistics touted by Gov. Ted Kulongoski at a tourism conference this week. Kulongoski hailed that as the third straight year of growth since passage in 2003 of a 1 percent statewide lodging tax dedicated to promoting Oregon as a national and international destination. Kulongoski said Oregon’s reputation for environmental protection is serving it well among tourists who prize the outdoors. “Our state doesn’t restrict us to bike paths that run along major highways,” he said. Read more

Kulongoski Takes Action to Eliminate Homelessness:
Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued an executive order Tuesday creating a statewide council to eliminate homelessness. More than 10,500 Oregonians are homeless at anytime and of those, 37 percent are children, Kulongoski said. “This has typically been looked at as a local community issue,” Kulongoski said. “I think it’s time we as a state step up and do everything we can.” Read more

Kulongoski Releases Pandemic Flu Plan: Governor Ted Kulongoski today released an updated Pandemic Influenza Plan for Oregon and urged all Oregonians to take steps to soften the impact of a flu pandemic on themselves and their families. At the first-ever Pandemic Influenza Summit, the Governor also called for clear outlines of the roles that federal, state and local public health agencies must play if an outbreak occurs. “My goal is to ensure that every Oregon citizen, every business, every non-profit organization and every school is ready for a pandemic outbreak,” the Governor said. “It is not enough to have good plans in place, because plans do not respond—people respond.” Read more

Kulongoski Adds Troopers to Fight ID Theft: Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he will ask the 2007 Legislature to authorize the hiring of 125 more Oregon state troopers to help combat the growing problems of identity theft and methamphetamine trafficking. Kulongoski said the additional troopers would help achieve his goal of restoring 24-hour, seven-day-a-week patrol coverage of Oregon’s roads and highways. “The Oregon State Police play a critical role in the fight against identity theft and our fight against meth, which is often the motive for identity theft crimes,” Kulongoski said Wednesday. Read more

Kulongoski Helps Salmon Industry: Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will seek a federal disaster declaration if fishery managers shut down the 2006 salmon season off the Oregon and California coasts—a move widely anticipated next week. Attending an “Emergency Salmon Summit” that the governor called last week, fishermen told state and federal officials how severe the unprecedented shutdown would be for the 1,200 salmon trollers who fish from Oregon ports. Kulongoski called the summit to find help for the fishermen and coastal communities. In addition to seeking disaster funds, he gave state department heads until April 14 to come up with ideas to help the industry. Read more

Kulongoski, Gregoire Emphasize Regional Approach: Gov. Ted Kulongoski joined Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday to urge government and business leaders in their two states to work together to develop a regional approach to improving the economy. Both said one of the chief bottlenecks to growth is the aging Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River that has increasingly clogged commercial transportation along the West Coast. The governors, both Democrats, also said the only way to keep the Pacific Northwest competitive in the global economy is to improve their education systems, from preschool through graduate school. Read more

Kulongoski Warns About Anticipatory Loans: Monday Governor Ted Kulongoski warned Oregonians about the high price of refund anticipation loans (RALs) as tax day approaches, and pointed to alternatives that cost far less. “Waiting for a tax refund can be hard, especially if you’re on a fixed income, but there’s a better way than paying huge fees for what is called an ‘advance loan,’” the Governor said. “If you are over 65, disabled or qualify for low-income assistance, you can get free help from any Tax Aide site around the state. They’ll help you e-file your tax return so you can get your refund quickly and without paying a cent.” Read more

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Press Releases

March 28, 2006
Governor Kulongoski calls for action to minimize salmon-closure hardships
Hosting an emergency summit to mobilize the state and federal response to the expected closure of Oregon’s ocean salmon season, Governor Ted Kulongoski called for commitments Tuesday from federal, state and local agencies to help relieve the economic hardships that coastal communities will suffer if the closure takes place.
Read more

March 27, 2006
Governor pushes development of ocean ‘wave energy’ in Oregon
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski watched a demonstration today of electrical power generation from ocean wave action, and announced his support for a federal earmark of $3 million to establish a national Wave Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Center in Oregon. “This remarkable technology is part of my vision for energy independence and renewable energy in Oregon,” Governor told researchers at Oregon State University, where work on the technology has begun. Read more

March 23, 2006
Governor welcomes new high-tech firm to Oregon
Governor Ted Kulongoski welcomed another new high-tech manufacturer to Oregon Thursday, cutting the ribbon in a grand-opening ceremony that opens the new corporate headquarters of MathStar, a semiconductor company that designs, manufactures and markets a new class of logic platform chips called “Field Programmable Object Arrays.” “Today marks another chapter in the book of success that we have been writing for Oregon over the last several years,” the Governor said, referring to his ongoing effort to recruit new companies to Oregon. Read more

March 23, 2006
Governors Send Joint Letter to President Bush
Governors Chris Gregoire of Washington, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon and Brian Schweitzer of Montana today sent a letter to President Bush to request that he remove from his Fiscal Year 2007 budget request a proposal that will siphon off money paid by BPA customers. The President proposes using a portion of the net secondary electricity sales revenues of the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) to accelerate the early repayment of Bonneville’s federal bond debt. “We believe this proposal, like attempts by previous administrations, will undermine one of the most successful federal-state partnerships for regional economic development and hurt the citizens and businesses of our states while providing little benefit to the federal deficit,” said the Governors in the letter. Read more

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