LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - LOOPHOLE DEBATE STIFLED

If you don't have the facts on your side, just don't let the other guy have his say! This is not a new rule of proper debate etiquette; this is just what took place on the floor of the House of Representatives last Wednesday on a bill to increase pollution tax credits.

-Debate Cut Off-
Simply put, the bill increases and extends tax giveaways to large corporations at the expense of working Oregon taxpayers and small businesses. This is corporate welfare at its worst. The bill was supported almost entirely by Republicans. Many Democrats wanted to speak to the bill's grave flaws. Rather than allow a full debate, however, the Republicans used their 35-seat majority to close debate to avoid listening to the arguments against it. What were they afraid of?

-The Enron Connection-
In speaking to a motion to return the bill to committee, Rep. Mark Hass (D- Raleigh Hills) reported that Enron avoided paying Oregon state income taxes for last year by claiming over $1 Million under the old pollution tax credit. That's money that otherwise would have gone to Oregon Schools, Human Services or Public Safety. Rep. Hass also reported that if the bill passed, Enron was preparing to claim a tax credit of up to $27 Million on the decommissioning of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, a cost already paid by Enron customers in Oregon as part of their power bills for the last several years. Is this double dipping for the Enron shareholders? Sure looks like it to me.

Why did the majority party vote to close debate? Simply put, this was an argument they could not win; best to ignore it and hope it goes away.

The Republican majority told us that the pollution tax credit bill will increase the number of good jobs in Oregon. There is little evidence supporting that argument. Even if there were, it would not justify paying off Enron for decommissioning a power plant. There is no good reason to subsidize a company whose bosses made off with millions but left their customers holding the bag and their employees without jobs or the pensions they had counted on.

The bill's supporters in the Republican Party could not answer these questions. Yet they wanted to do the bidding of big business. So they closed debate. They, understandably, wanted to avoid talking about their support for a tax loophole that is being abused.

-An Omen?-
I fear what this portends for the budget debate. We need full and fair debates because they allow the public to weigh the relative merits of a bill and may even change the mind of a legislator or two before the vote.

By closing debate on Wednesday the Republican Majority did a disservice to the citizens of this state and voted to give millions of dollars to Enron. Moreover, a repeat performance would show that the Republican majority does not want its mind cluttered with facts that don't lead to the conclusions Republican legislators want to reach, a very bad sign for Oregon.