Revenue Forecast: First Look

Oregon economists said this morning that expected state revenues have dropped another $107 million since the last revenue forecast. The state Office of Economic Analysis released the latest numbers this morning at a meeting of the House Interim Revenue Committee. The drop is not enough to use up the remaining cushion that lawmakers built into the current budget, but it leaves budget-writers with much less wiggle room over the remaining 19 months of the biennium. In response, Governor John Kitzhaber announced a limited hiring freeze at large agencies, and told those agencies not to expect to receive a 3.5% "holdback" that was written into the budget.