Bulletin E-Edition:
State may benefit from senators’ pork
Health bill provides extra aid to Oregon; defense bill funds parts made in Redmond
By Keith Chu / The Bulletin
Published: October 01. 2009 4:00AM PSTSen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., defended a deal that would give struggling states more funding in the health care reform bill: “Let me repeat, I make absolutely no apologies for helping Michigan, Rhode Island, Oregon and my state of Nevada.”
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WASHINGTON — Oregon is inadvertently getting a few crumbs from big slabs of pork ordered up by powerful U.S. senators from other states.
In two of the most expensive bills that will pass through the Senate this year — the defense spending bill and health care reform bill — Central Oregon could end up benefiting from expensive programs intended to help other parts of the country.
In the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Majority Leader Harry Reid struck a deal to provide more federal money for his home state to expand health care for the poor. But as written, the provision would also mean more money for three other states, including Oregon. And in the Senate version of the defense appropriations bill, senators are keeping alive the C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft — which the military says it does not want — because it employs thousands of people nationwide, including a handful of workers in Redmond.
The health care provision would pay for 100 percent of any new Medicaid costs for states that had seasonally adjusted unemployment rates of 12 percent or higher in August, and whose percentage of Medicaid enrollment was lower than the national average. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in August and its Medicaid enrollment below average.
Reid argued that states like Nevada deserved more federal funds for the poor, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reiid.
“States with high unemployment and low Medicaid enrollment like (Nevada) and (Oregon) have further to go and therefore need extra help,” Manley wrote in an e-mail. “We made the case that states that met these criteria faced unique challenges, and Senator (Max) Baucus agreed.”
For 2009, the federal government will pay for about 72 percent of Oregon Medicaid costs under the current formula, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Under the Finance Committee bill, that percentage would increase to about 88 percent, based on a new formula.
The deal drew quick fire from Republicans, including Georgia Rep. Nathan Deal and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans targeted their attacks against lawmakers from states that would pay higher taxes to fund the benefits in Oregon, Nevada, Rhode Island and Michigan.
“What does she think of this special deal her leader cut for his own state while it’s her constituents who will be burdened with paying for massive new health care costs?” Brian Walsh, a National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman, said in a news release aimed at Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Continued Republican criticism led Reid to defend the measure in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday afternoon.
“Let me repeat,” Reid said, “I make absolutely no apologies for helping Michigan, Rhode Island, Oregon and my state of Nevada.”
A spokeswoman for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., didn’t respond to a request for comment
Meanwhile, the full Senate was poised on Wednesday to approve a defense spending bill that included $2.5 billion for 10 C-17 Globemaster military cargo planes that the Pentagon didn’t ask for. President George W. Bush began the effort to end production of the aircraft, citing projections that existing cargo planes were sufficient to meet the armed forces’ needs.
But as is often the case with big pieces of military hardware, the Boeing plane employs thousands of workers across the country, which has helped keep the C-17 in production.
About 15 to 20 employees work on C-17 parts at the PCC Schlosser plant in Redmond, but that makes up a relatively small portion of the factory’s workload, a company spokesman has said.
The plant casts titanium components for the C-17’s airframe and engine.
In 2007, the Redmond City Council sent a letter to Oregon’s congressional delegation, urging lawmakers to continue to support the plane.
In a statement of administration policy issued by Office of Management and Budget, the White House said it “strongly objects” to funding the new planes.
“Analyses by DOD have shown that the 205 C-17s in the force and on order, together with the existing fleet of C-5 aircraft, are sufficient to meet the department’s future airlift needs, even under the most stressing situations.”
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