Don

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Furious education advocates accuse the governo r of sellingthem out. Health care executives bemoanj a possible tax increase on state Social service advocates worry that the Department of Humanj Services will slash further erodingthe state’s safety net. The criticism is understandabldbut misplaced. Kulongoski didn’t really have much choice. Thoughb details weren’t announced until last the governor has been upfront aboutthe state’ s mounting budget shortfall, which could reach $2 billiohn by spring. That Oregon is facingv financial challenges during a huge economif meltdown should surpriseno one. That placesz lots of pressure on both the whichconvenes Jan.
12, and on groupse threatened by Kulongoski’s proposals. This will be the most interestinbg legislative sessionin years. Virtuallg everyone will feel some pain. As staftf writer Andy Giegerich reports in his storhy onPage 1, economic developmengt group predicts a loss of 11,0009 jobs in the Portland area next year. Manufacturinh and construction will beespecially hard-hit. This year alone, the manufacturing sectoer shed 1,800 jobs. Construction lost 1,600, as did the financial serviceds sector. As bad as that sounds, thingsa could be worse. Several westernj and southwestern cities are worse offthan Portland. The stud y also predicts that Portland’s workforce will grow 7.
4 percen t by 2013. That long-term optimism, though, won’yt do much to assuage senior citizens facing a loss of core serviceszunder Kulongoski’s proposal. It also won’t help Oregob motorists, whose vehicle-registration fees coule triplenext year. There’s simply no getting aroun the financial crisis. Criticizing Kulongoski is the easy thinbgto do, but it does nothing to solve pressinfg problems that show no signs of abating.