State legislature to kick off biennial assembly next week

In less than a week, the Oregon State Legislature will convene at the state’s capital in Salem, Ore., for the 75th Legislative Assembly.

The first meeting of the Oregon House of Representatives and Senate on Jan. 12 will signal the beginning of the biennial session, which lasts approximately six months and will cover the operation and funding for various state departments, including higher education.

One of the groups that represent the interests of university students and educators in the state is the Oregon University System (OUS), which is made up of the seven public universities in Oregon, including Portland State.

According to the OUS website, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s recommended budget for the next two years is $917 million, an investment in higher education by the state, that focuses on four key themes: student success, affordability, infrastructure and clean technologies.

Diane Saunders, OUS director of communications, said that OUS provided what it determines the seven universities will need in terms of funding for the next two years, which represents the 2009-11 biennium.

“The governor then developed a recommended budget for each state agency based upon [that] as well as what the governor and the state’s priorities are, so you don’t necessarily get everything you ask for,” Saunders said.

Saunders said the first theme of the investment is to ensure that students will follow through with their education from the time they enroll until they receive a degree by providing academic services such as tutoring and mentoring.

“The second key focus is affordability—to make college more affordable for student and family in Oregon,” she said.

Saunders said OUS works to keep tuition prices in check by mandating that tuition increases are within the 3 percent range each year. This keeps tuition for OUS schools, on average, lower than other state schools, Saunders explained.

The Oregon Student Association, which consists of student representatives from nine campuses, will also be lobbying for college affordability throughout this session, according to Zach Martinson, OSA board member and legislative affairs director for Associated Students of Portland State University.

“The big message we try to send to legislature is that the smartest investment they can make is in post-secondary education,” Martinson said. “We’re now seeing record FAFSA applications and student aid requests. We’re [Oregon] 44th in the nation in funding for full time students.”

Hannah Fisher, President of ASPSU, said lobbying is an important element to making sure higher education is a continual priority.

“We want to make sure that the gains that we have made in higher education—as far as funding goes—stay,” she said.

OSA members lobby for financial aid by direct student appeal to legislators, in addition to other means. Martinson is in charge of ASPSU’s involvement.

“My role is to get out and talk to as many students as I can to get them to come to the capital,” Martinson said.

He said that the OSA allows students who receive college aid are given the chance to meet and relate their stories to key legislators with influence over Oregon’s higher education policies.

“We pull their heartstrings,” Fisher said.

Another focus of the governor’s proposed budget, the development of green and clean technologies, could help Oregon in a global economy, Saunders stated.

A large amount of the money in Gov. Kulongoski’s proposed $917 million budget is dedicated to the development of these technologies, which will hopefully foster new jobs as well as ensure sustainable management of natural resources, she explained.

According to Saunders, there are four renewable energy projects totaling to about $75 million, in addition to the development of a new $80 million sustainability center, that are currently being worked on.

PSU is slated to be the home of the new sustainability center, Saunders said. The Portland Development Commission is donating the site for the new center to the university, and the new building will be paid for with a combination of federal and private-sector dollars.

“[The sustainability center] will not just look at ways to save energy, but move to the next step, where any time someone uses the sink or flushes the toilet, the waste water would be recycled back to the system,” Saunders said.