State Rep. Rob Nosse wanted to check to make sure he understood.
“The way I’ve sort of sound-bited this presentation so far … is: Things are awesome, but maybe a recession is coming,” Nosse, D-Portland, said Wednesday during a joint hearing of the House and Senate revenue committees.
Mark McMullen, the state’s top economist, hesitated for a moment before answering: “You know, I think that would be fair.”
McMullen was in the middle of unveiling the state’s latest forecast on taxes that will come into state coffers by the end of the current budget biennium next June, and also to preview how the next two-year budget cycle might play out. And as in the last two-such forecasts, he had good news.
McMullen and state senior economist Josh Lehner now say the state stands to collect more than $75 million more in general fund and lottery resources than expected in the last forecast, unveiled in late August.
That means Oregon taxpayers stand to get a larger tax break. Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysts now expects the state to reward a $724 million kicker, the second largest ever in terms of dollar amount.
