Smith Attacks Merkley for Creation of Rainy Day Fund

Smith Criticizes Bipartisan Effort to Protect Schools and State Police

Senator Gordon Smith attacked House Speaker Jeff Merkley late last week for his leadership to create the state's first "rainy day fund." Merkley brought together Democrats and Republicans to create Oregon's first savings account to protect schools, law enforcement, and other critical services.

On Friday, following a private event hosted by the Oregon Farm Bureau, Senator Smith attacked Merkley for championing House Bill 2707 and "raiding the 'corporate kicker'".

Smith spokeswoman Lindsey Gilbride wrote that, "the Kicker raid took $290 million out of the pockets of hard working Oregon businesses."

Smith's campaign is wrong. More than 85 percent of the corporate kicker flows to companies who operate outside of Oregon, according to a 2006 analysis by the nonpartisan Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP). [Issue Brief, 3/28/06]

"Gordon Smith and George Bush bankrupted the federal government by giving away the federal treasury to the most powerful special interests," said House Speaker Jeff Merkley. "Now Smith is attacking the bipartisan effort I led to create the state's first 'rainy day fund' and end the state's largest giveaway to out of state corporations. For all his talk of bipartisanship, Smith opposes the most important bipartisan accomplishment of the last legislative session, favoring the wealthy special interests at the expense of our schools and our state police."

After the Legislature voted overwhelmingly to create the "rainy day fund", Merkley praised Republican leadership and the business community for their bipartisan cooperation:

This was a huge bipartisan victory for the people of Oregon. My hat is off to both the Republican leadership and Democratic leadership, who negotiated long and hard to work out a plan, as well as to all the members of the House who supported this historic legislation.

Credit also goes to the coalition of business organizations who sacrificed their short-term monetary interests to support the use of the corporate kicker to capitalize the fund."

[Speaker's press release, 3/8/07]

House Republican leader Wayne Scott also praised the bill's initial passing, saying that "this agreement... will be a great thing for Oregonians." [The Oregonian, 3/1/07]

The Oregonian echoed the praise, calling Merkley's accomplishment, "the most important legislative agreement in years," stating that "there's nothing that Oregon needs more than a real savings account...." [The Oregonian, 3/2/07]

The Statesman Journal said it showed "real progress, and both parties deserve credit for it." [Statesman Journal, 4/9/07]

The Oregonian praised these business groups, who "looked beyond their short-term interest in kicker refunds and saw that a state rainy day fund was more important to them than a one-time tax windfall...." [The Oregonian, 3/2/07]

Posted July 7, 2008
Press