Oregon has considerably more to spend on the next biennium, according to the forecast released Wednesday. Education advocates are asking for a share of it.
“The latest economic forecast is great news for Oregon and opens the door for increased investment in K-12 public education,” said Jim Green, OSBA’s executive director. “Our students need $10.3 billion to avoid cuts at many of our districts.”
The Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast released Wednesday, May 17, showed Oregon’s economy is continuing to grow. In the revenue slides presented to legislators, Oregon’s revenue forecast increased $2 billion for this biennium and $173 million for 2023-25 from the last forecast.
“Once again revenues have outstripped our expectations,” said Mark McMullen, state economist.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Office’s report, Oregon’s net general fund and lottery resources for 2023-25 increased $2.3 billion from the last forecast.
The Joint Ways and Means Committee now has real numbers to work with as it finalizes budgets and considers other spending bills. House Bill 5015 allocates $9.9 billion to the State School Fund, but school leaders say they need at least $10.3 billion to avoid shortfalls at most districts. Many districts are already working through budget numbers based on $9.9 billion that show grim cuts to staff and programs.
The budgetary framework released in March showed a tight budget with more than $500 million set aside for a homeless response, health care, early learning and other state issues. It’s nowhere near enough for all the proposed bills, though. Everyone in Salem has been waiting for this forecast to set the final numbers.
With this encouraging forecast, education advocates can now point to several ways the Legislature can increase K-12 public education funding. The State School Fund represents a little more than a third of state spending, and education advocates argue it should receive a proportional amount of any increases in state revenue.
The forecast also showed the corporate kicker tax refund increasing by $300 million to $1.8 billion. By law, the kicker goes to education, and education advocates say all that extra should be added to the State School Fund without taking any general funds out.
Gov. Tina Kotek’s proposed budget in January suggested holding back contributions to the state’s rainy day funds, freeing up potentially hundreds of millions for state needs. The rainy day funds are forecast to stand at $2.1 billion at the end of this biennium.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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