This week, Oregon’s House Revenue Committee received our state’s economic forecast for the next biennium. Forecasters from Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) paint a rosy picture of “very strong growth” and “incomes higher today than before the pandemic.” They have projected an increase of “more than $1 billion per biennium through 2025-2027.”
While we are pleased to know that there are plenty of resources available to provide desperately needed relief in our communities, OEA’s presentation on Oregon’s economic health had some disturbing gaps.
Notably, slides and data on the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on women, mothers and caregivers, undocumented Oregonians, and Oregonians who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color were left out of the presentation. When prompted for the data by committee members Rep. Andrea Valderrama and Rep. Khanh Pham, forecasters said it was “easier” to present just the data for “prime age Oregon men.”
Let us be unequivocally clear: leaving out Oregonians who are currently most harmed by the health and economic impacts of the pandemic and who have also been historically left out of statewide investments does not paint a clear picture of our state’s economic health.
Swift and meaningful investments that are rooted in racial, gender, and economic justice are what this moment calls for. Now is not the time to save money. Today is our rainy day.
Our last recession taught us that austerity measures only make economic recoveries longer and more painful. Economists agree: stimulus packages work best when money is quickly moved into the economy. Lawmakers must utilize the influx of resources outlined in today’s economic forecast to invest in the communities that have been historically left out and are also currently most harmed by the pandemic and recession. They can do so by passing the priorities we’ve outlined in The People’s Budget.
Our communities represent the backbone of Oregon’s economy. We saw during the pandemic and Oregon’s last wildfire season what happens without investment: without schools and child care, without frontline and farm workers, without women, especially those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, our state cannot function.
Lawmakers must prioritize passing the policies included in The People’s Budget before the close of the 2021 Legislative Session in order to build an equity-based budget. Doing so will ensure an economic recovery that will empower Oregon to emerge stronger than before and ready to weather future storms.
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