The Oregon Business Plan: Let's Take A Hard Look Before We Leap

By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
published in the Central Oregonian, December 2002
www.centraloregonian.com

This week and in days to come, Oregonians are going to hear a lot about “The Oregon Business Plan.” This document, which was presented to government and business leaders yesterday, is the culmination of efforts by a task force of citizens put together by the Portland-based Oregon Business Council seeking to determine how best to extract the state from the economic doldrums.

Prominent politicians are lining up to support the plan. Monday’s conference was hosted by such luminaries as Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Gordon Smith, Governor John Kitzhaber and Governor-elect Ted Kulongoski, which is pretty heavy-duty political firepower. Newspaper columnists talking about the plan’s proposed 12 “initiatives to act on right away” are behaving like Titanic survivors who just found 12 deck chairs floating by.

Call me a cynic, but in many ways the hype that has surrounded this plan and its attendant event reminds me a lot of those crowds of people we occasionally read about who rush to see statues weep and who look for miracle cures in grottoes. As much as we all wish for instant solutions (preferably of supernatural proportions) to fix our problems, the truth is that economic malaise, like most other problems, can’t be cured overnight.

The Oregon Business Plan calls for grand initiatives. Among the ideas promoted: “Attract investment in Oregon;” “Invest in post secondary education;” “Build a top-tier engineering school;” “Seize opportunities to improve forestland production, environmental enhancement, fire prevention and conflict resolution;” “Maintain our roads and bridges;” “Build better air service,” and “Market Oregon more aggressively.”

These all sound great, but the question is, if they are such great ideas, why haven’t we done them before?

The answer, as always, comes down to money. Nobody in state government has been sitting around for the last 24 months saying, “I choose NOT to invest in roads and bridges” or “I choose NOT to invest in higher education.” No lawmaker took office saying “I think more business and more investment is a bad idea.” Lawmakers and citizens alike have made decisions about where to put funds in response to both political and financial considerations, and those same considerations haven’t led to investments in the areas identified above.

Maybe that’s why the very first suggestion in the “12 initiatives” is “Get serious about revenue reform.”

I personally know many of the members of the task force. They are all nice people. They all believe in a better Oregon. Many of them are independently wealthy. And almost all of them believe that a fundamental key to economic growth is a corresponding growth in government spending.

The Oregon Business Plan is expensive. The improvements it anticipates can only come from the pockets of hard-working Oregonians. Potential funding sources might be a new sales tax, expanded university tuitions, additional bonded debt to be paid back from future state budgets or increased taxes all around.

Some will benefit. Companies relocating to Oregon will see their costs reduced, courtesy of state subsidies. Companies already in Oregon will be able to reduce labor costs as the home-grown supply of engineers and other professionals increases and laws of supply and demand kick in. Business travelers will have more choices in making airline connections, thanks to the increased surcharges you will pay in order to fund subsidies for new carriers.

But is this the answer? Will our economic problems go away by increasing wealth transfer from the pockets of private citizens to out-of-state businesses we hope to lure here with subsidies and amenities? I have my doubts.

I believe that Oregon already has in place what it needs to cure its economic woes. Our forest lands grow the best timber in the world. Oregon farm products are prized globally. The quality of life that allowed companies such as Nike, Intel and Les Schwab to flourish hasn’t gone away. What holds us back are limitations—many self-imposed—in the form of heavy-handed regulation by state and federal government which prevents us from using the resources already available to us. Clear the regulatory barriers, and watch the economic engine roar. In the process, we can generate the revenue needed to pay for the many enhancements the Oregon Business Plan envisions.

This is the one area where the Oregon Business Plan is on point. Regulation is the problem, particularly regulation of land use and natural resources ,and until hurdle that barrier, additional investments in infrastructure are window dressing. To move toward economic security, we must move beyond polarization and resume sustainable timber harvest while still protecting our resources. We must revisit the land-use planning system and remind ourselves that state and local planners are supposed to be promoting conservation AND development, not just the preservation agenda. We must eliminate red tape in siting and permitting new business. These proposals make sense. Taking more money out of your pocket does not.
The siren songs of businesses looking to line their own pockets at public expense are calling Oregon’s leaders. Let’s hope they keep their heads about them and remember that its hard-working taxpayers and constituents who ultimately must foot the bill.