Tagged: Government and Politics

A man who nearly became Oregon's State Librarian will now spend the next two years on probation for forgery. He pled guilty Thursday to going beyond just padding his resume. He forged documents showing that he had a degree from the University of Washington.

Last winter, Robert Hulshof-Schmidt was just weeks away from an internal promotion to the top spot at Oregon's State Library in Salem. Then, he suddenly withdrew his application and stopped showing up for work at the agency where he'd been employed for nearly seven years.

Library officials were mum on the about-face. Eventually someone else was named to the job.

Oregon lawmakers have been pressing state agencies to cut back the ranks of middle managers. A legislative panel voted Wednesday to do that. But they scaled back a proposed round of layoffs at prisons because of safety concerns.

The Department of Corrections had submitted a budget-cutting plan to eliminate 81 positions, including more than 50 prison lieutenants. Lawmakers instead told the agency to scrap just 21 jobs by this summer. House Democratic leader Tina Kotek said the original proposal was too much, too soon.

Tina Kotek: "I am concerned about the safety issues within the system by reducing the number of supervisors. It's a challenge of safety for the staff, safety for the inmates."

Washington teachers are woefully underpaid. That’s the conclusion of a draft legislative task force report. Now a key Washington state lawmaker says teachers and other school employees deserve at least a cost of living pay raise next year.

Twelve years ago, Washington voters approved Initiative 732. It requires annual pay increases for K-12 employees. The initiative didn’t come with any funding. In recent years, because of the Great Recession the legislature has suspended those pay raises. But now state revenues are starting to recover. House Ways and Means Chairman Ross Hunter says the state should make it a priority to ensure teacher pay keeps up with inflation.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has been busy signing a series of bills dealing with everything from marine reserves to tax incentives. But the deadline to sign bills from this year's legislative session was actually more than a month ago.

With a bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered behind him, the governor extolled the virtues of House Bill 4068.

John Kitzhaber: "The people here deserve a lot of credit for bringing a bill to my desk with broad, bipartisan majorities."

Washington state has auctioned off its liquor stores. And private retailers are set to take over the sale of spirits June 1st. But Thursday the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit aimed at putting a halt to the changeover.

The hand count continues for the wave of write-in ballots Republicans cast in Oregon's Attorney General and Treasurer's races. The party was not able to find a candidate willing to run in the primary, but suggested voters write in Tom Buchalfor AG and Tom Cox for Treasurer. Nineteen thousand Republican voters ultimately threw their support behind write-ins. Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown says the counties have twenty days to finish their tallies.

Job creation is emerging as a top issue in Washington’s open race for governor. But the two leading candidates often cite different jobs figures. The state’s official unemployment rate is currently 8.1 percent. Republican candidate Rob McKenna though uses a much higher number.

Washington’s unemployment rate has been getting incrementally better. But that monthly snapshot only captures people who are out of work and actively looking for a job. There’s an alternative way to evaluate the employment situation in Washington. That’s to use the federal government’s so called U-6 rate. That figure is 17.6 percent. State economist Dave Wallace says part-time workers are the biggest driver behind that more grim number.