(Photo above: OSU-Cascades Tykeson Hall)
Early this week the Oregon Legislature’s budget committee advanced a bonding package that will fund key construction projects across the state, including major investments in school buildings, affordable housing, veterans’ homes, economic development projects and $100 million to keep the Elliott State Forest in public hands.
Although OSU-Cascades requested (and needed) $69 million to expand the campus, the legislature decided to only allocate $9 million. Despite intense efforts by Now4 OSU-Cascades Supporters including several full day trips over the pass to testify, as well as many letters, emails and personal calls to the Governor, legislative committees and individual legislators, the small amount of money coming to Central Oregon was surprising.
According to Janie Teater and Amy Tykeson who chaired the effort to expand the campus: “We were incredibly disappointed to learn that OSU-Cascades was awarded only $9 million, to prepare the pumice mine area for future development. We had heard in the waning weeks of the session that we could end up with $50 million for the land development and the academic building. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
Highlights include:
K-12 School Buildings
-$100 million for major seismic upgrades to K-12 schools;
-$100 million for a matching program to help school districts across the state to fix outdated, dilapidated, or hazardous facilities.
Community College Campuses
-$100 million in matching bonds for renovations and other improvement projects at 14 community colleges across the state.
State University Campuses
-$260 million for renovations and other key projects at each of the state universities, including $50 million for an innovative new Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon, and funds to continue the expansion at the Oregon State University Cascades campus.
Affordable Housing
-$80 million for affordable housing construction through Oregon’s Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) Housing Program;
-$25 million for affordable housing preservation.
Veterans’ Homes
-$10.5 million in matching funds to support development of a new veterans’ home in Roseburg;
-About $2.5 million for projects at veterans’ homes in Lebanon and The Dalles.
Economic Development Projects
-$30 million for multimodal transportation projects through the Connect Oregon program;
-$30 million for special public works projects, including levees and other critical local infrastructure;
-$15 million for water supply development grants;
-$10 million to clean up industrial “orphan sites” – areas contaminated by hazardous substances that pose a threat to human health or the environment, but the responsible party is either unknown, or unable or unwilling to pay for remediation;
-Over $7 million to support the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, a collaborative bringing together industry, higher education, and government to develop a skilled workforce and address manufacturing challenges;
-Funding to support the next steps of the Portland Harbor Superfund Cleanup;
-$5 million for Oregon’s Main Street Revitalization Grant Program, which was created in the 2015 session to help small and rural communities transform their downtown business districts.
-$2 million for an Innovation and Workforce Training Center in Gresham’s Rockwood neighborhood – a growing, diverse area with high rates of poverty and unemployment.
Elliot State Forest
-$100 million to keep the Elliot State Forest in public hands.
The package, contained in Senate Bills 5505 and 5530 passed out of the Capital Construction sub-committee and will move to the full budget-writing committee as the Legislature works toward adjourning before the constitutional deadline of July 10.
