News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Representative Ben Westlund is making a short but significant move across the Capitol to take a seat in the Oregon Senate.
The Sisters-area legislator won appointment from the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners to the seat vacated by Bev Clarno. Clarno resigned August 1 to take a position with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In their unanimous decision, the three commissioners cited confidence in Westlund's knowledge of the state budget and his ability to be effective in the Senate.
"I am humbled, excited and thrilled, all in the same emotion," Westlund said.
Westlund is looking forward to bringing his budgetary expertise and his passion for structural tax reform into the 30-member Senate where his voice and vote will carry more weight than in the 60-member House, but his constituents shouldn't expect much change in their representative.
"I am exactly the same person; none of my positions, philosophies or ideologies have changed one iota," he said.
Those positions and philosophies cost Westlund his position as chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee in favor of a more conservative member.
Westlund has pushed hard for reform of Oregon's tax structure, arguing for a reduction of income and capital gains taxes and the institution of a 5 percent consumption, or sales, tax.
Under Westlund's conception, the sales tax would be permanently capped by voters at 5 percent in a constitutional revision; income taxes would also be placed under voter-approved caps.
He believes that such a plan would bring tax reductions to Oregonians, create incentives for business that would stimulate the state's economy, and infuse stability into a tax structure that is prone to crashing revenues when the economy goes sour.
While he emphasizes that plans for tax reform are in the draft stages, Westlund is anxious to get to work.
"I am glad to be taking my passion for this subject to the Senate," he said.
Westlund hopes to help pass a joint resolution requiring both houses of the legislature to return to work in mid-November -- after the current marathon session -- to tackle tax reform.
The legislator is carrying a heavy load of work in the face of a health crisis earlier this year. Westlund had surgery to remove a portion of a lung due to lung cancer and has undergone a regimen of radiation and chemotherapy to back up the successful surgery.
He says the treatments have not slowed him down at all.
"I just wish people could see me," he said.
"I've been so blessed through this whole process. I've just been charging at 110 percent like I always do."
Westlund said he has not suffered the fatigue and other symptoms often associated with chemotherapy.
Westlund credits his love for his work with helping him overcome his illness and the potential side effects of preventive treatments, which are nearly complete.
"I'm passionate about this stuff," he said. "I love it. It keeps me going."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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