Schools budget defeated 15-15.

Kari Chisholm

Well, it was an outcome that was foreseen earlier this month. Today, the Oregon Senate rejected the $6.55 billion schools budget on a 15-15 vote. All 14 Republicans voted no, as did Senator Chris Edwards (D-Eugene).

Edwards had previously made it clear that he would vote against the plan, saying that the impact on Eugene schools would be too "severe, entailing such things as raising class sizes yet again, or cutting up to 12 school days off the school year."

Legislative leaders pushed a vote through, clearly hoping that Edwards (or perhaps a rogue Republican) would help the budget across the finish line. That didn't happen.

Edwards clearly is demanding more funding for schools in exchange for his vote. Of course, Governor Kitzhaber and Democratic leadership argue that this budget is a strong one already, and is probably as good as it is going to get, absent a grand bargain (in which Republicans agree to new revenues and Democrats agree to further PERS cuts.)

So, is Senator Edwards a hero? Or a bum? You tell me.

On the jump, the full statements from Governor Kitzhaber and Senator Edwards.

Governor John Kitzhaber:

“It is extremely disappointing Senate Republicans have squandered an opportunity to stabilize school funding and bring relief to communities across the state. I’m also very disappointed in Senator Edwards. His home school district faces continued lay-offs and the loss of even more school days.

Kids have gone home for the summer, and school districts across the state face tremendous uncertainty. It’s inexcusable that D.C.-like gamesmanship won out over Oregon common sense.

We are better than this – and Oregonians expect more from a legislature that overcame partisanship in the last biennium. Our work is not yet done. Three weeks ago, I outlined a framework to secure cost savings and new revenue to significantly reinvest in education, end teacher layoffs, restore school days and avoid tuition increases. The Senate President and House Speaker both stepped up to compromise for the good of Oregonians. There's still time for Republicans to get serious about coming to agreement.”

Senator Chris Edwards:

“Today, I made good on my commitment to oppose a K-12 state school budget that would have meant big cuts in the Eugene School District. The fact that the budget would really hurt our schools has been highly publicized in Eugene and has never been disputed. I have been opposed to the proposed budget level since it was first unveiled and have made my position clear to our budget writers and leaders in the negotiations over cost-cutting and revenue measures.

Recently the Republicans joined my opposition in an attempt to drive more PERS fixes. I have maintained from the beginning that I would like to see a bargain that controls the escalating costs to our schools and raises the revenue critical to school finances.

In today’s debate on the budget we heard a lot of rhetoric from those who only want to focus on cutting PERS costs, but we heard very little about support for a fair revenue package. Without a fair revenue package, further PERS discussions are not likely to have much traction because we need a balanced approach that addresses both the cost and the revenue side of the equation.

While I wholeheartedly support a deal to stabilize funding for our schools, if the Republicans don’t get serious about putting up votes for a revenue package that doesn’t include their tax cut for the wealthy, then we are clearly stuck.

It’s time for a vote on a schools stability package that includes the fairest PERS reforms and the fairest revenue fixes.”

The Statesman-Journal has accumulated a collection of additional statements.

By Kari Chisholm June 17, 2013