Good catch Carla. And about their OregonHEAT program:

When I was in need of such assistance 4-5 years ago, I tried calling them for help several years in a row. There were never funds available... or so I was always told. I'd be really curious to see how much is donated to that fund, and how much is given out.

Hey, Peggy Fowler doesn't want to pay a lot of tax on her $4.5 million tip or her multi-hundred-thousands annual pension. She now sits on the board she so clearly has on leashes and calls the shots, while the other board members collect 50 large each year for doing what they're told and not mentioning the contradiction between all PGE's greenwash and how it's Oregon's worst polluter by a big margin.

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?..."

Honestly, I hope the measures pass and some of the largest employers in our communities decide to stop donating to schools, sponsoring public events, etc. It's the only way we will learn. It saddens me to see our party has turned into a wager of class warfare and is content to completely wipe out the middle-class, while posting little gotchas online from their respective caves. One would think you'd be green enough to opt-out of receiving paper bills from utility companies, by the way. Guess not.

Oregon voters should consider the state's Misery Index when deciding which way to vote on Ballot Measures 66 and 67. At a record high 20 percent, it's not theoretical, it's not sometime in the future, it's real and it's happening now.

You need only to read your local papers or watch your local TV news to see the ongoing human tragedy caused by the blight of joblessness on our state... read the rest here:

Measures 66 And 67: Stop, Look At The Evidence

Exactly why we need to pass the measures, ThinkOregon. The state provides services to the needy. If we don't pass the measures, asking for small contributions from those who continue to do well even in these times (i.e. $250,000 well) we'll cut those services.

Maybe Think Oregon believes in Dan Doyle's old idea of "mystery money"---no tax increase but services won't be cut. I'm guessing multiple Republican legislators believe that.

Don't act like there isn't money to be cut from the budget. And spare us this BS that it has to affect those precious little kiddies.

The Dept of Corrections projects a 3% increase in offenders under their supervision

The budget gives them a 22% increase.

THe Oregonian article suggest they want to release 1 of 3 +/- offenders early.

Give them a 3% budget increase and save the state $260,000,000

Anyone want to address the $250,000,000 in public employee pay increases for the next budget.

Wow, there's $510,000,000 saved right there.

Anyone want to bet how easy it would be to find another $240,000,000 out there?

"The Dept of Corrections projects a 3% increase in offenders under their supervision

The budget gives them a 22% increase."

And how much of that came as a result of Mannix "tough on crime" measures?

When was the last year this state spent more on all kinds of education (K-higher ed) than on prisons?

Which costs more--a year of college or a year of incarceration?

And do you really think no budget cuts would come out of programs for the needy?

I hear the Portland Trailblazers also funneled thousands of dollars to the No campaign. I'm sad to see the instant karma on the court lately. As a half season ticket holder it pisses me off, so I decided to donate to Tax Fairness Oregon to help highlight the unemployed folks who would see a tax INCREASE if the tax measures fail. If you want to help Oregon unemployed folks maybe it makes more sense to donate to help pass these measures than it does to PGE's hypocritical program! http://www.actblue.com/page/100fishies

What do you expect from a regulated utility that sometimes pretends it really is a private sector organization? Consistency?

PGE's entire existence is a contradiction. Why would it be strange for it to sometimes act like a real for profit business and other times act like a government monopoly, depending on which it finds most beneficial to the elites who profit from it?

Stop acting surprised.

"Anyone want to bet how easy it would be to find another $240,000,000 out there?"

Indentifying what you believe should be cut is only the first step.

For a budget item to become part of the Oregon budget it must pass through a series of steps.

1) Hearing in Ways and Means subcommittee--the folks who deserve credit (agree with them or not) for the long hard slog hearings. You can find at least the audio of those hearings from the 2009 session by going to http://landru.leg.state.or.us/index.html and clicking on Legislative Audio Video.

Some of those hearings were broadcast on Oregon Channel on cable. Witnesses are called to discuss the budget item. The subcommittee discusses the budget item. If enough of them agree, the budget item is sent to full Ways and Means. (If there is not support for the item there, it is dead.)

2) Full Ways and Means committee hearing. Budget item must pass this and be sent to the floor.

3) Budget item goes to the House and Senate floor and must pass both places.

4) Goes to the Gov. desk for signature or veto. Only after the Gov. signs is the item truly part of the Oregon budget.

There have been instances where a subcommittee chair says "As long as I am chair, this item does not leave the subcommittee". No matter who blogs on the subject, if that holds true, the item never leaves subcommittee.

There have been discussions on other BO threads about the diff. between blogging and the real world.

If you really want to make something happen, contact legislators like Esquivel, Telfer, Berger and offer your suggestions. They would likely be more intelligent ideas than the rerun ideas of Sal Esquivel (see thread here at BO) or the THESE ARE BAD TAXES BUT DON'T ASK WHAT WE WOULD DO INSTEAD rhetoric of those like Berger.

It is time to have an open public debate about the alternatives.

The NO campaign would be smart to have that discussion now, before the election. Adam Davis at City Club today said whatever concerns Oregonians have about money management, they also are concerned about the needy left out in the cold.

Do medically fragile people or parents of disabled kids deserve government help?

In a true financial emergency, why not cap every public administrator salary (college presidents, agency heads, etc.) st the same level as the Gov.?

Or are the No on 66 & 67 folks hoping that reliance on gimmicks will prevent them from having open public discussion of alternatives?

Are they worried the public is not with them on alternatives?

Although I very much want 66 & 67 to pass, I don't think this is much of a 'catch' on PGE. They are a utility, and limited in how much they can make for delivering electricity to us. Since we pay them to deliver it, the money isn't ours anymore. If they want to use a portion of their money to fight this measure - if they think it is best for their shareholders - they have a right to do so.

Now if you have evidence that they are hiding the cost of the donation in the cost of supplying electricity, that would be using 'our' money, and would indeed be a catch.

I think it is because PGE/ENRON cheated on taxes that people take it out on them.

Okay ... then rail against Pat and Mary Anne:

http://thinkoregon.squarespace.com/news/2009/12/11/measure-66-and-67-look-at-the-evidence-part-ii.html

Big, mean, scary corporations ;-)

Does PGE fund Oregon HEAT, LIEAP, or OEAP? I thought those were funded purely by the subscribers. If they do, is their contribution pre-set (by them, in their budget)? Are they reneging on that amount to fund anti M66/67 ads? That would be really low ball pool, granted. Is that the situation, though?

You imply they took money from those programs for stupid political advertising. Frankly that sounds more like the usual bratty post than hypocrisy at PGE. We don't need another M67 thread. Let's concentrate on bartender's excellent point. You know, the one the thread purports to care about? Last time these points were made, they were completely ignored as troll scat.

The thing the public doesn't realize about those programs is how they work, day on day. I think most think that they donate some dollars, it goes into a fund, and those deserving, by some criteria, apply and get assistance. And that is it, in very general terms. The devil is, as usual, in the details.

(All this based on personal experience, helping indigents apply and receive the funds).

First, the funds never last the season. They are only available for a few months during the winter. If you need assistance with AC in the summer, forget it. Most members of the public are unaware that the fund is exhausted every winter, with demand unmet.

Second, many of the charities that disburse those funds require a same day shut-off notice. It is absurd to ask folks to ruin their credit and put everything on the line so that some charity with full time staff positions (how much does that take from the fund, compared with PGE's ad. support) can have a simple way of determining merit.

Third, many of those organizations seem to try to make it as odious as possible to apply, seemingly as a way to limit the numbers. Typically folks have to queue for an hour, outside, before opening, to get decent service. Come in the daytime and you're made to wait for hours. Then they tell you to go someplace else. Bottom line, if you're mobility impaired, good luck jumping through the hoops. That's why folks like me have to do what we do. There's a lot that simply cannot access the system as it is. You think gov is unresponsive? Try someone taking full-time dollars and benefits from a non-profit, that never meets or deals with donors. PGE collects the funds, then they are handed over to the non-profit org. Their #1 concern is keeping their job, keeping clients in their place and writing proposals for more Federal and private funds to disburse. Most mean well. The reinforcement contingencies simply aren't right for the system to work as intended, though.

Basically, it's little better than showing up to a soup kitchen for a lunch. It fills a need, but it's not something you can use predictably, not something you can factor into a long range plan to get out of your current situation. I saw a person this week, just filed chapter 7 bankruptcy, is on food stamps, and is working two jobs, barely paying the rent. They never turn on the heat (checked- hasn't been on once this week), yet know they will not be able to pay the electric bill, which is now two months past due. They read the little insert in their bill and wanted to apply to one of those programs. I'm checking around, but it looks like I'll have to tell them to wait until January, push it to the last day, take off work, run around and sit all day, and maybe they'll get assistance. Their need is known right now. Why wait? I understand that with very limited dollars, that this family could get lucky and not need it by then. There are ways to deal with that though, as food stamps does. For all its ills, when food stamps runs and functions hugely better than another assistance program, that other program isn't working very well.

At the end of the day, I do not believe that the average utility customer that donates to those programs imagines that that is how it works. Portland can and should do much better. Please seriously consider this very real issue, if you truly care about those programs and the people they serve.

If you want an example of an almost identical program that DOES work, check out the relief available to QWest customers, for a basic land line. One often applies at the same time they receive food stamps, there's no third party skimming, the criteria is explicit and if you meet it you get the benefit. (Are any of those third parties spending funds to support M67?) I argued in 1968 that phone service was an utility. Now I argue the same for the internet. It is shameful in the extreme, that 50 years on, that the electric utility assistance still isn't managed as well.

Wouldn't mind seeing a follow-up that seriously discusses a Portland PUD. How many developer and footy give-aways could have made that happen? Piggy Park should be off the table until that is dealt with. Maybe naive, but if the City bought PGE, wouldn't they get their precious park?

Posted by: Ron Morgan | Dec 11, 2009 5:20:54 PM

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?..."

Mind you, his point about surplus population is well taken. Scrooge was a lily liver and an optimist.

I'll plead ignorance (which plea will no doubt be gleefully accepted) on PGE, with regard to some details. You hear this ex-Enron line a lot. I have a very basic question. Was the Enron culture the PGE culture? There seems to have been one guy that they stuck in the Portland office, that worked completely apart from the local org, that came up with most the skullduggery. I was associated with Enron in Houston. From what I know they are extremely parochial and don't trust subsidiaries with anything. The implication is that some of that culture remains at PGE. I'm questioning if any of that culture was EVER at PGE. First time I ever posted was to chastise the blog for treating "Cheney's Midnight Run" as a big joke. There were theories about him wanting Enron/PGE docs. If PGE were the Enron culture, couldn't he have just rung them up and told them to send him the relevant smoking guns? A personal trip implies you can't trust people. If Darth Cheney doesn't trust PGE, that's reason to give them a benefit of the doubt!

I'll also be much more on board when I hear disparaging remarks about all those factors that made their con possible. At the time they were touted as the premier, cutting edge US business model. Those promoters became .com venture capitalists, then went to the banks and sold management on new loan management schemes, and are still up to their games. How about the judge- local, you control his fate- that gave the main Enron fraudmeister a suspended sentence, three years probation and told him to pay back bonuses. Compare that with the local MM supplier that doesn't recant before the inquisitor. That is a grotesque travesty, and would get a lot more sympathetic response from me than trying to read everything in the world as being about M67 and if people are "wid us or agin' us".

Think Oregon--ever heard the phrase "consider the source"?

Without an About Us on your "independent journal", there is no way to evaluate the worth of what you say.

You may believe you have the revealed truth, but no one else is required to believe that.

For more tragic irony consider that, Willamette University President, M. Lee Pelton sits on the PGE Board. WU pr gushes about "green" and "sustainable" practices on campus. The school has received a couple of national awards for its "sustainable practices." In the meantime, PGE continues to spew carcinogens and fight demands to clean up its act.

It seems like a no brainer for Pelton to take some initiative in leading PGE into a "green" or "sustainable" future. WU's Sustainability Council could provide support and the campus paper could track progress. Since October I've emailed all parties suggesting this campaign, aside from a form letter from Pelton, I've received no reply.

C.

Remember, malfeasance is, "the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law; wrongdoing (used esp. in violation of a public trust.)" -- Random House Unabridged.

Wasn't there a move a couple years ago to make PGE a publicly owned venture...and didn't Kulongoski veto that effort? Just one more reason to love our Governor.

At worst, they may pay a grand total of $140 more.

According to what was said in the article, you can extrapolate that they each make between $20-25,000 per year.

If you divide the new minimum tax between them, that amounts to $75.

So Torridjoe, do you support a minimum tax of $75 on individual taxpayer with at least $20,000 in gross wages?

MP--it is not about what a blogger supports, it is about what legislators support.

Unless I am mistaken, "So Torridjoe, do you support a minimum tax of $75 on individual taxpayer with at least $20,000 in gross wages?" could only happen in one of 2 ways: ballot measure or supermajority to raise taxes. Even if every blogger agreed with you, that wouldn't make either scenario happen.

Which is why there have been discussions of bloggers vs. the real world here and elsewhere.

No Carla I am not. I am asking TJ if he supports a minimum tax on individuals make $20K per year since he claims it is no big deal for for a business making the same to do so.

"No Carla I am not. I am asking TJ if he supports a minimum tax on individuals make $20K per year since he claims it is no big deal for for a business making the same to do so."

Would the individuals have the same right of tax deductions as the business?

You mean the $11 BILLION in tax adjustments individual taxpayers claim annually?

OK. I'm new to this. So, this wasn't about Oregon HEAT?

Pour me a stiff one, barkeep!

Where is Carla's e-mail address so we can send a reply? Wow. Just when we need business, we get the media condemning every business, even those like PGE who have constant fraud by the WONDERFUL illegals and citizens. Let's see - using children's Social Security numbers for service, disabling meters, you name it! Those utility companies are really a human and they are out to get you! Everyone wants their services, but they don't want to pay!

Usually, money for such issues comes from the stockholders profit, as do the CONTRIBUTIONS to many charities. By the way, have you seen the lists of charitable contributions by PGE?
Why aren't you questioning where that money comes from? As I recall, those contributions come from stockholder's profits, not YOUR pocket. Dumb. Dumb.

Some people getting benefits from the state - I think someone above mentioned medically fragile - are given benefits without determining NEED. They practically apologize when they call the state. They know they are simply handed the benefit - no looking at their income.

And Medicaid hands out medical coverage to illegals without determining need, too. There is no mechanism to use to determine their wages without a social security number, so they SELF-VERIFY their income. American Hispanics are protesting this, but the liberal media will not listen to them or help put this news out. WHY?

So, yes, pound on PGE, while overlooking all that the state does to essentially WASTE MILLIONS.

You are paying state taxes to the Public Utility Commission so that bureaucrats can spend day after day looking at the books of the utilities. They question EVERY expenditure and have for years. If you had a complaint, you should call PUC before posting this. Don't you people know what your tax dollars do?

Although the PUC is there to control stockholder owned companies, the state does not police itself. Medicare and Medicaid fraud for the US is approximately $90 BILLION and $65 BILLION, respectively.

You should be soooo concerned about this!

Businesses can and do cut out wasteful spending. Call it stinginess. Call it any name you like, but the truth is, it is smart. Government has no incentive to eliminate waste. Governments are huge and growing bigger everyday. Who catches them being wasteful?
Where is the transparency Obama spoke of when he wanted your votes? Why are the budgets of huge angencies not posted in a public place? DHS has 10,000 employees.
The feds pass laws which the state sometimes must follow - increasing rules and regulations and making more cost - is this a collusion of sorts?

Peoples' Utility Districts (PUDs) and municipally owned utilities do not make political contributions. They also make no profit, so millions of dollars stay in the local economy.

Just for the record, PGE has a long history of supporting appropriate revenue measures. We’ve been a strong supporter of local school bond levies, and we joined Defend Oregon in 2006 and 2008 to defeat ballot measures that would have taken more than $1 billion from the state treasury and critically affected K-12 education. We also supported the creation of the state’s Rainy Day fund and helped to fund it by putting money that otherwise would have been returned via the corporate “kicker” into the fund.

We supported those efforts with political contributions that, by law, we couldn’t recover in the prices we charged to customers, just as we won’t be able to recover the contributions we make to the campaign against Measures 66 and 67 today. In effect, these contributions come out of our shareholders’ pockets – not our customers’ – and we make them because we are part of a wider business coalition that believes Oregon needs to support job creation and retention to benefit all Oregonians, increase per capita income to reduce poverty, and improve our overall economy. A permanent tax increase in response to temporary economic conditions won’t do that, so we think these measures should be defeated.

We also believe that if the measures go down, the legislature should work with a broad-based group of stakeholders, including the business community, to find a more responsible funding strategy for state services during the current economic downturn and avoid drastic cuts to key programs. PGE supported a proposal the Oregon Business Association offered during the 2009 legislative session, for a temporary income tax surcharge, and we stand ready to work with legislators to help resolve this issue in 2010.

As for Oregon HEAT, it’s an independent non-profit that works with local low-income service providers to determine eligibility for heating assistance. There is no requirement that applicants have a shut-off notice from PGE before they can be helped. We invite our customers to join with us in support of the agency with bill inserts twice each year, and have been a contributor every year since it was created in 1989, in good times and bad. We’re proud of the fact that PGE employees and customers make up a large part of Oregon HEAT’s total contributions, donating almost $245,000 last year. PGE also supported the organization last year with contributions totaling almost $572,000, including cash and in-kind donations of office space, telephones, and other assistance. Like our political contributions and our many community sponsorships, these are also costs that we can’t charge to customers. We make these contributions because we think it’s the right thing to do for the communities we serve.

Steve Corson wrote:

A permanent tax increase in response to temporary economic conditions won’t do that, so we think these measures should be defeated.

So, increasing the $10 corporate minimum tax that has been in effect for more than 75 years is response to temporary economic conditions?! PGE, as is often the case, plays Oregonians for fools. The utility does not, however, object to state income tax it is allowed to collect from ratepayers and keep as additional profit.

Mon Dieu, what a crew!

Under state law, utility taxes are a pass thru to customers, in both directions: If we collect more for taxes as part of our price structure than we pay, we have to return the difference to customers, and if we collect less for taxes in our prices than we pay, we have to impose a surcharge to make up the difference. If taxes increase, prices reflect that. If taxes decrease, prices reflect that.

Steve Corson wrote:

If taxes increase, prices reflect that. If taxes decrease, prices reflect that.

Yes, as long as the Oregon Legislature, Public Utility Commission, and Utility Reform Project stay on PGE's ass.

From The Portland Business Journal: Utility commission orders PGE to calculate unpaid taxes

And this from AP [April 14, 2008]

...Portland General Electric was ordered to refund customers $37.2 million because it collected more taxes in rates than it paid to government. The resulting rate decrease will be between 1 and 2 percent.

The orders announced Friday result from a utility tax law the Oregon Legislature passed in 2005. It requires utilities to match the taxes they collect from ratepayers with what they pay to governments.

Senate Bill 408 was intended to close a loophole that allowed Enron, PGE's former owner, to collect as much as $90 million a year for taxes from Oregon ratepayers but use losses from other operations to erase tax liability and pay the state as little as the $10 minimum tax.

On a different, but related issue [PGE ripping off customers, that is], from the Utility Reform Project dated May 8, 2009:

Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) has begun sending to customers notices, in their monthly billings, about the refund of $33.1 million in unlawful profits on the Trojan nuclear power plant obtained through 15 years of litigation by the Utility Reform Project and other clients represented by attorneys Dan Meek and Linda Williams.

"This is only a small fraction of the appropriate refund on Trojan profits, after the plant permanently closed in 1993," said Meek. "PGE rightfully owes ratepayers at least 10 times more than this amount, and we are continuing the litigation before the Oregon Public Utility Commission and in the courts to get back the correct amount for ratepayers."