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Power seat
In her Salem office, Rep. Susan Morgan, R-Green, right, and fellow legislators Rep. Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, far left, and Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, listen during a telephone conference call with the Douglas County commissioners Wednesday morning.<hr>
Susan Morgan entered the room in the Capitol and banged the gavel to open a meeting of the Joint Ways and Means Natural Resources Subcommittee. The meeting had no sooner begun when Morgan, the subcommittee's chairwoman, stood up and left.
The fourth-term Republican from Green was scheduled to be in two places at once. Instead of sitting through an informational presentation by the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, Morgan instead went to a meeting of the Ways and Means Committee's top budget writers.
Since the resignation two weeks ago of Rep. Dan Doyle, who had been picked to serve as the House of Representatives' leader on Ways and Means before being accused of campaign finance improprieties, Morgan's stock has risen greatly.
House Speaker Karen Minnis tabbed Morgan, 55, to serve as vice-chairwoman of the committee, which is made up of 10 representatives and an equal number of senators. She serves as the assistant to House Majority Leader Wayne Scott, who was picked to replace Doyle on the committee.
"That's my life right now," Morgan said. "I've been working just on the budget, so I don't know what is going on the policy side. Basically, I have all of my time blocked out for that."
The House and Senate budget writers meet tirelessly every morning and afternoon during the week. Their only breaks comes during the House's late-morning floor session and lunchtime. Morgan typically arrives at the statehouse by 6:30 a.m. and doesn't leave until after 8 p.m.
"This has been real intense, but we will get through it," Morgan said.
This session, the committee is using performance-based budgeting approach to decide how much money individual agencies will receive. Ways and Means members are evaluating the agencies and determining whether they have met goals in providing services. Later, programs will be ranked by priority and a baseline established for funding.
"Everything above the line would be funded and everything below that wouldn't be," Morgan said.
The real fight will come after the line is drawn and lawmakers begin arguing about whether programs ranked below the line should be funded, she said.
Committee members recently met with a delegation from the National Conference of State Legislatures, a Denver-based group that provides research and technical assistance to lawmakers. Ways and Means members heard how budget issues are handled in other states.
Morgan enters her position as vice-chairwoman with a wealth of experience. She has twice served as chairwoman of the Natural Resources subcommittee and last session headed the Education subcommittee. She has been a member of the Ways and Means Committee all but her first session in 1999.
"I bring a level of experience to the process that a lot of other people don't have," Morgan said.
Many statehouse observers believed Morgan was slighted when Doyle, a third-term Republican from Salem, was chosen to lead the House on Ways and Means. They felt she was being punished for voting during the fifth 2003 special session for a temporary income tax surcharge to balance the budget.
Morgan -- who had served as a member of the nonpartisan "Group of Five" who worked to rebalance the budget during the first special session -- was one of 11 Republicans to side with Democrats in approving the bill by the exact two-thirds needed. She defended her vote, saying she saw no other choice in dealing with the state's budget crisis as no alternative budget plans had been offered.
At the time, Morgan said she backed the tax increase to benefit the state and to prevent thousands of Oregonians from losing critical services.
Two weeks ago, Doyle resigned first from his Ways and Means position and later from his position in the Legislature following revelations that he listed $60,000 in phony expenditures on a campaign financial report. His exit allowed for Morgan's rise in the committee.
The fourth-term Republican from Green was scheduled to be in two places at once. Instead of sitting through an informational presentation by the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, Morgan instead went to a meeting of the Ways and Means Committee's top budget writers.
Since the resignation two weeks ago of Rep. Dan Doyle, who had been picked to serve as the House of Representatives' leader on Ways and Means before being accused of campaign finance improprieties, Morgan's stock has risen greatly.
House Speaker Karen Minnis tabbed Morgan, 55, to serve as vice-chairwoman of the committee, which is made up of 10 representatives and an equal number of senators. She serves as the assistant to House Majority Leader Wayne Scott, who was picked to replace Doyle on the committee.
"That's my life right now," Morgan said. "I've been working just on the budget, so I don't know what is going on the policy side. Basically, I have all of my time blocked out for that."
The House and Senate budget writers meet tirelessly every morning and afternoon during the week. Their only breaks comes during the House's late-morning floor session and lunchtime. Morgan typically arrives at the statehouse by 6:30 a.m. and doesn't leave until after 8 p.m.
"This has been real intense, but we will get through it," Morgan said.
This session, the committee is using performance-based budgeting approach to decide how much money individual agencies will receive. Ways and Means members are evaluating the agencies and determining whether they have met goals in providing services. Later, programs will be ranked by priority and a baseline established for funding.
"Everything above the line would be funded and everything below that wouldn't be," Morgan said.
The real fight will come after the line is drawn and lawmakers begin arguing about whether programs ranked below the line should be funded, she said.
Committee members recently met with a delegation from the National Conference of State Legislatures, a Denver-based group that provides research and technical assistance to lawmakers. Ways and Means members heard how budget issues are handled in other states.
Morgan enters her position as vice-chairwoman with a wealth of experience. She has twice served as chairwoman of the Natural Resources subcommittee and last session headed the Education subcommittee. She has been a member of the Ways and Means Committee all but her first session in 1999.
"I bring a level of experience to the process that a lot of other people don't have," Morgan said.
Many statehouse observers believed Morgan was slighted when Doyle, a third-term Republican from Salem, was chosen to lead the House on Ways and Means. They felt she was being punished for voting during the fifth 2003 special session for a temporary income tax surcharge to balance the budget.
Morgan -- who had served as a member of the nonpartisan "Group of Five" who worked to rebalance the budget during the first special session -- was one of 11 Republicans to side with Democrats in approving the bill by the exact two-thirds needed. She defended her vote, saying she saw no other choice in dealing with the state's budget crisis as no alternative budget plans had been offered.
At the time, Morgan said she backed the tax increase to benefit the state and to prevent thousands of Oregonians from losing critical services.
Two weeks ago, Doyle resigned first from his Ways and Means position and later from his position in the Legislature following revelations that he listed $60,000 in phony expenditures on a campaign financial report. His exit allowed for Morgan's rise in the committee.
Minnis declined to discuss her reasons for initially bypassing Morgan for a leadership role on Ways and Means. However, she praised Morgan for what she brings to the budget committee.
"She is a player. She's very knowledgeable and she brings a lot of experience to the committee," Minnis said.
Minnis said Morgan is the most knowledgeable member of the House of Representatives when it comes to timber and other natural resources. She wanted to have Morgan continue to head the Natural Resources Subcommittee for that reason.
Morgan will take a more active role on the joint House and Senate committee once it begins budget talks. In the meantime, Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, the vice-chairman of the subcommittee, is heading the committee in her absence.
Scott spends more than six hours a day talking budgets with Morgan. He said his colleague has a great ability to evaluate the performance of agencies and to see where money should be spent.
"She is a very informed woman and a very hard worker," Scott said. "Susan is doing a wonderful job."
Even when she goes home at night to her Salem apartment, Morgan finds it difficult to push budgeting from her mind. She pores over documents detailing sources of state revenue and money available to be spent on programs. Just to break things up, she also studies a plan for wildlands firefighting.
"It's a strange reality when this is your bedtime reading," Morgan said, only half-joking.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
"She is a player. She's very knowledgeable and she brings a lot of experience to the committee," Minnis said.
Minnis said Morgan is the most knowledgeable member of the House of Representatives when it comes to timber and other natural resources. She wanted to have Morgan continue to head the Natural Resources Subcommittee for that reason.
Morgan will take a more active role on the joint House and Senate committee once it begins budget talks. In the meantime, Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, the vice-chairman of the subcommittee, is heading the committee in her absence.
Scott spends more than six hours a day talking budgets with Morgan. He said his colleague has a great ability to evaluate the performance of agencies and to see where money should be spent.
"She is a very informed woman and a very hard worker," Scott said. "Susan is doing a wonderful job."
Even when she goes home at night to her Salem apartment, Morgan finds it difficult to push budgeting from her mind. She pores over documents detailing sources of state revenue and money available to be spent on programs. Just to break things up, she also studies a plan for wildlands firefighting.
"It's a strange reality when this is your bedtime reading," Morgan said, only half-joking.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
Morgan profile
<b>Susan Morgan, 55
Representative for:</b> Oregon House District 2, which includes Roseburg, Green, Myrtle Creek, Tri City, Riddle, Canyonville and Glendale, along with portions of Josephine and Jackson counties. <b>Family:</b> Divorced, three grown daughters and one grandson. <b>Elected:</b> November 1998. Has served in the 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005 Legislatures.. <b>Sponsored legislation in the 2005 session:</b> • House Bill 2080: Directs the Department of Human Services to inform retired physicians and other health care providers of volunteer opportunities and to recruit them to work at primary care clinics. (Sponsored at the request of former Rep. Bill Markham of Riddle). • HB 2353: Allows a recreational vehicle along with another vehicle and a trailer to be driven and towed together under specified circumstances. <b>Contact:</b> (503) 986-1402, in Salem; write to her at 900 Court St. N.E., H-381, Salem, OR 97301; e-mail: rep.susanmorgan@state.or.us |
