OREGON CHRISTIANS

Oregon Struggles . . . because of Wall Street

Oregon's Link To The Fate Of Wall Street's Fortunes

By Randall Edwards, Oregon State Treasurer

The Oregonian

September 30, 2008

As Oregon's treasurer and fiduciary to billions of state assets, I'm growing more and more alarmed about the developing financial crisis on Wall Street, Congress' inaction and the impact it is having on Oregon.

Congress has failed to pass a bipartisan financial market intervention plan to rescue the troubled credit markets. This package would have insulated Main Street from the meltdown on Wall Street. It would have also paid back taxpayers and reformed how business is done on Wall Street. Failure to pass the rescue plan is a great disappointment for Oregon, and Monday brought the single-greatest point drop in the Dow Jones industrials index.

Without a bill, the ability for Oregonians to be able to get credit for buying a home or a car, or for small businesses to get loans for operations, will dry up. What's more, stock market returns this year have already been tough on families. With the market dropping, their savings and nest eggs are shrinking even more and could take years to grow again.

Oregon is already feeling the effects of the slowing economy with unemployment growing and home values dropping. The state's revenues had fallen nearly $120 million before the Wall Street crisis. Any deepening or lengthening of this recession could have catastrophic consequences on the vital services the state provides its citizens.

Oregon is also feeling the impact in other ways.

The various funds I oversee have lost value because of the fall in the market, and that will bring new challenges to the state. For example, the common school fund pays out tens of millions of dollars to schools in Oregon. Its earnings have dropped, leaving less money for schools and putting more pressure on the general fund to make up the difference.

The bond market is a mess. I've stopped selling bonds for Oregon because there is too much uncertainty and because interest rates have skyrocketed. These bonds are critical investments in Main Street and pay for affordable housing, energy efficiency, education facilities, roads and bridges.

The financial package before Congress is the starting point to get the markets going. Given the magnitude of the remedy, it's essential that there is appropriate oversight and transparency of the investment that taxpayers are being asked to make. But time is of the essence and Congress must act now to bring certainty and liquidity to the markets.

Delay and inaction are proving far worse.

Randall Edwards is treasurer of Oregon.

posted by ONE NEW MAN ! Isaiah 62:1-5 @ 12:16 PM