Sean C. Morgan
Steve Frank says the existing tax system is unstable and needs reform.
“When I walk around and talk with people in our district, I see their distress,” said Frank, 59, a Democrat from Stayton who is running for the state Senate District 9 seat against incumbent Republican Fred Girod. “I feel they need to have someone in the state legislature who cares about them and knows what they’re going through. Our state budget is unstable. We need tax reform.”
People are worried about the future, Frank said. They don’t have healthcare coverage. Some are on a waiting list for Oregon Health Plan coverage. Premiums are exorbitant for others, and they’re going up.
Frank told The New Era that Sen. Girod said a healthcare transformation bill “stinks,” and that’s why Frank is running.
“We have to move forward with healthcare transformation so people have healthcare,” he said.
The state budget is unstable mostly because it’s dependent on the state income tax, which is the most unstable of revenue streams, he said. It puts people at risk.
State Budget
Sen. Frank Morse of Albany, who resigned last month, tried for years to move forward a new tax plan that would generate an additional $1 billion in revenue, Frank said.
Instead of people paying property tax and state income tax, everyone would pay his or her fair share into the state budget, he said. The kicker refund would go to a rainy day fund until it reached a certain level of funding, a percentage of the budget. Anything beyond that percentage would be returned to taxpayers. The rainy day fund would cover expenses during economic distress or when the state can’t meet the needs of seniors, the disabled and education.
The idea is to get those who aren’t paying their fair share to pay, Frank said. That’s why Measures 66 and 67 moved forward.
There are a lot of people who utilize state resources but who do not pay into the budget, he said.
His vision of tax reform includes a 5 percent sales tax, a property tax cut; a reduction in income tax rates to 2, 4 and 6 percent; a reduction in capital gains taxes to 4 percent; and a refundable earned income credit of 25 percent.
Frank believes it is a balanced approach to taxes.
Healthcare and Education
“Healthcare reform, to me, is a critical area to get costs in line,” Frank said. It will move people to using CCOs instead of visiting emergency rooms, reducing costs. Running money through the healthcare exchanges is a great idea, and the pool for small businesses should help.
Frank likes the 40-40-20 goal, with 40 percent of Oregonians earning a bachelor’s degree, 40 percent an associate’s degree and 20 percent a high school diploma; and he’s looking forward to working with education officials to rein in costs.
“The governor did a good job being proactive with healthcare and education,” he said. “I’ve watched Fred on the floor of the state senate. To talk about all the work and all the effort to move healthcare transformation, that it stinks, seems very inappropriate.”
Frank also criticized Girod’s support for a ban on gill netting while opposing other fish conservation efforts.
Economy
“One of the problems in this area is the amount of raw timber we’re shipping out of here to Japan,” Frank said. He would like to see it processed here, and the area could also become a Mecca for eco-tourism, with hiking, viewing and cleaning up the parks. It’s an unbelievable area to promote mountain biking.
Frank supports a proposal to bond lottery proceeds to do low-interest loans for infrastructure repairs, which would create plenty of jobs, he said. He thinks private business and entrepreneurial efforts are the best way to go though, recalling a Canby man who put together his manufacturing plant and doubled its capacity through hard work.
“I don’t believe government’s main job is necessarily to create jobs,” Frank said. It may be useful to have government-provided low-interest loans, but “people like that independent entrepreneurial-spirit thing here.”
It works, he said, telling how his nephew opened a business called Peddle for Power, which provides electrical power for stages at events using people to peddle generators.
“I walk around your town, and I do see there is a glimmer of hope for the future,” Frank said. “I see people working together and helping each other move forward. That is the true American spirit. We need to provide opportunities for people” and care for those who are most at-risk, such as the seniors helped by Project Independence, which has had funding reduced from $13 million to $8 million.
Frank said that as a councilor in Stayton for four years, he learned to set goals and bring solutions to fruition. When rivers ran down both sides of 10th Avenue there, he found it unacceptable and went to work getting sidewalks installed. Twenty years as union steward with the U.S. Postal Service have helped him hone the same skills.
“I’m very receptive to people’s needs,” Frank said. “You have to interact with the people of your district. I found I was very accessible as a councilor, and I would be as a senator.”
As he has campaigned, he hasn’t found too many people who even know who their senator is, Frank said.
In addition to being accessible, he said, he has found that the legislative staff members are invaluable, and he has a working relationship with many of them.
Frank sees a problem in the legislature with gridlock. HB 4028, which would have increased the amount of lottery bonds issued to finance grants and loans for transportation projects by $10 went down in a deadlock in committee.
He said he can offer a way around that, with his experience as a councilor and union steward and from raising a granddaughter from birth. He comes up with solutions to problems.
Frank is retired from the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked for 24 years. He also taught second grade in Valsetz. After retiring he went back to teaching as a substitute.
He is married to Linda, a home care worker. They have one daughter and a granddaughter.