9 waste projects passed at midnight hour of Legislature

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

9 examples of government waste passed in the final hours of the Legislature inside the Omnibus budget bill (known as Christmas Tree Bill):

•Ÿ $10 million for Portland mega-restaurant.  Funds given to build the James Beard Public Market in Portland.  This comes after public tax funds were used to build the super-luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel and food court which is now facing bankruptcy after being open for only one year.

Ÿ•Ÿ $3 million for Portland festivals. A three million grant given to Portland Business Alliance Charitable Institute to support festivals among Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  It is not the role of government to force rural Oregon to pay for festivals in big cities that can cost as much as $75 to attend.

Ÿ •Ÿ $2 million to give legal aid and resettlement aid to illegal migrants.   $2 million was allocated for refugee resettlement agencies and non-profits.  We  remind our readers that the last Legislature awarded $27 million in free airport hotel services to illegal migrants.  It was so generous that California began directing their new migrants to go straight to Oregon to get their free hotel.  The program was over-loaded and quickly ran out of money.  Additionally, the funds in this bill are dedicated to helping “asylum seekers” — a category that was rarely used by illegal migrants seven years ago but became universal among border crossers once the Biden administration made it a short-cut around the process.  Once everyone used this category it overwhelmed the system and doomed the chances of the people who legitimately needed to use it.

Ÿ•Ÿ $4 million to a fitness center that charges $121 monthly membership fees.  $4 million in funds were allocated to a private athletic community center (Mittleman Jewish Community Center) which is a member restricted businesses for which the monthly fee is $121.

•Ÿ $1.75 million for fancy tiny-town trolley. $1.75 million was allocated for trolley expenses between Monmouth (11,000) and Independence (12,000), which are two cities adjoined to each other.  The Trolley is free because now taxpayers across Oregon are paying for it.  Already the entire state is paying a .1% tax on our wages to fund transit (to benefit only a handful of actual cities) which means Oregonians are paying two different wage taxes (Transit tax, income tax) to fund free fancy trolley trains between two cities next door to each other.

Ÿ •Ÿ $375,000 for controversial Shakespeare Festival.  This festival has been plagued by controversy, funding problems and widespread complaints of politics being injected into classic plays.  This has driven away customers which then drives the Festival to ask for more money to cover the cost of these lost customers.  Two recent directors have resigned unexpectedly including the current one just two weeks ago.

Ÿ •Ÿ $2 million for arboretum.  $2 million is awarded to Portland’s Hoyt Arboretum.  This represents nearly the entire budget of the arboretum itself. Why isn’t Portland helping to fund their own park?

Ÿ•Ÿ $2 million for perpetual state subsidy of the High Desert Museum.  This summer the Legislature gave them a whopping $2 million.  The Legislature previously gave them $379,750 in 2023 and $700,000 in 2021, making this museum one of the most subsidized and taxpayer cash addicted museums in Oregon.  Whenever museum funding is questioned, politicians respond by saying how good and successful the particular museum is.  Well, if is so good and successful, it shouldn’t need taxpayer subsidies.

Ÿ •Ÿ $100,000 to study (destroying) the OHSU Primate Research Center.  Since liberals demanded that OHSU close their primate research center and Governor Kotek joined the crowd, the Legislature has awarded $100,000 to study the viability of the center.  This is likely money designed to create a report detailing how to shut down the center.

AREAS OF CONCERN:

Ÿ •Ÿ $950,000 for group that subsidizes rent.   $950,000 was awarded to the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency which provides many services such as rent subsidies and utility subsidies.   Subsidizing rent is a high-risk area for abuse.   For instance, when a person has cut hours at work, instead of that person getting a side job or a better job they can now just apply for food subsidies, rent subsidies and utility subsidies — which create a new dependent at a cost to taxpayers that was 100% created by government.  Oregon became the #3 biggest food stamp state because they are so aggressive at giving people a subsidy short-cut to life.  Utility subsidies are already provided through different programs including the utilities themselves.  This tripling of subsidies creates more abuse of our tax dollars.

Ÿ •Ÿ $4.8 to give to other groups to give to other people.  $4.8 million is awarded to the Oregon Growth Board which then hands it to other more-private groups to hand it out directly to private businesses.    The Board aims to help under-represented businesses.  This give-money-to-others-to-give-money model is how USAID became a scandal factory. Please note, that government has been telling local small businesses that there is nothing they can do to help them when their shops are vandalized or robbed monthly (caused by defunding police), but if you are a wealthy entrepreneur living in the most expensive neighborhood in Oregon and you need taxpayer cash to fund your risky investment in a new product idea, then the Oregon Growth Board has millions to help you.

•Ÿ $2.5 for County Fairgrounds.  Funds given to Union County for sewer costs.  County fairgrounds should be paid by the county and not become wards of the state.

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