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Oregon entities receive $4.26 billion in stimulus bill; $686,000 for Oakridge, $240,000 for Lowell

by Doug Bates | Apr 3, 2021 | Cascade Summit/Crescent, Communities, Front Page, Lowell/Jasper/Fall Creek, Oakridge/Westfir

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By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau — The $1,400 checks to individuals is the best-known part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan approved by Congress earlier this month.

But alongside unemployment aid, COVID-19 funds and other spending is money for states, counties and cities to use to backfill their budgets.

In Oregon, that amounts to just over $4.26 billion — the state gets $2.62 billion, counties receive $818 million, larger cities get $438 million, and other communities receive $243 million.

There’s another $1.55 million for state construction and renovation projects.

The 278 local allocations range from $10,000 for the city of Antelope (population 50) in Wasco County to $159.65 million for Multnomah County.

The city of Oakridge was allocated $686,000, and $240,000 was earmarked for Lowell. Lane County was allocated $74.1 million, and Klamath County $13.2 million.

In Oakridge, City Administrator Bryan Cutchen’s budget message — presented to budget committee members earlier this week — acknowledges that the federal funds will be helpful but in no way will solve the “harsh reality” of the city’s long-running fiscal crisis. It will require “difficult choices” despite the allocation.

The package was proposed by President Joe Biden and approved by narrow Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

Biden hailed the legislation as generating “economic growth for the entire nation.”

“It focuses on rebuilding the backbone of this country — working families, the middle class, the people who built this country,” he said.

Oregon’s two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, voted for the bill. Three of the state’s five House members — all Democrats — voted for the bill: Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer.

Critics of the bill said the price tag was too large and that much of the spending wasn’t targeted at issues created by the COVID-19 crisis. 

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, was among the Republicans in the House opposing the bill. 

U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, was one of two Democrats who voted against the original House version approved on Feb. 27. After changes by the Senate retargeted spending in key areas, Schrader supported the final version sent to President Biden on March 10.

“My concerns remain on the size and scope of this bill but believe the Senate changes provide meaningful relief for Oregonians in need,” he wrote in a post on Facebook on March 8 announcing his intended vote switch.

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Written by Doug Bates

April 3, 2021

Alpine Stream Construction Highway 58 Oakridge Oregon

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