Kotek: Economy and education boosted by Oregon legislative session

Statesman-Journal:

House Speaker Tina Kotek said the recent session of the Oregon Legislature was good for state support of education and the economy.

“Those were the two things I see as major accomplishments of the session,” Kotek, a Democrat from Portland, said at a meeting with the Statesman Journal editorial board.

But Kotek, who is in her fourth term in the House and first as the House’s presiding officer, said there were some disappointments. She said a failed deal would have provided even more state money for education through higher taxes in exchange for additional reductions in public-pension costs. Part of the revenue-raising plan proposed a 10-cents-per-pack increase in state cigarette taxes to pay for an expansion of mental health services championed by Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.

Read the full article here. Discuss below.

connect with blueoregon