Legislative leaders are preparing for the possibility of another drawn out budget battle.
The Assembly has approved a budget repair bill that avoids a hospital tax and transportation fund raid. Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) says it relies on cutting state spending, rather than raising taxes.
However, the Senate Majority Leader has said he wants the Joint Committee on Finance to take up the bill first. Huebsch says he's hopeful that Senate Democrats will see the budget repair bill from their point of view, which he admits is not likely to happen.
As a result, there's a good chance the budget repair bill will end up in another conference committee, such as the one that lead to the last budget being over three months late. Huebsch says Republicans will be open to compromise during that process, adding that Republicans will avoid a "my plan or nothing" position during those talks. However, the Speaker says Republicans will work to avoid tax increases.