Smith says state spending is unsustainable
By Terry Murry on Thursday, February 16th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – Oregon Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner) says it looks like the state will have to make some budget cuts.
“Just five years ago, the budget was approximately $85 billion,” he said. “Now, we’re up like $122 billion and that’s a lot of money to have to sustain since the bulk of it came from the federal government, borrowed money that came to Oregon one time.”
The vice co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee says that kind of spending can’t be sustained.
“At the end of the day, you can only spend a dollar once,” he said. “Ninety folks in Salem, including myself, and the governor are going to have to make some hard, hard decisions.”
The Republicans will have a seat at the table to discuss those cuts since the Democrats no longer hold super majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
