Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 3

Monday, January 4, 2010 NATION FROM PAGE ONE Statesman Journal 3A Most state budgets on path to even leaner times "It's going to be the toughest year yet. The states haven't hit bottom. Raymond Scheppach the director of the National Governors Association Oregon's January vote on tax increases may be sign of national trends By Shannon McCaffrey The Associated Press ATLANTA If you thought state budgets were in bad shape last year, just wait: 2010 promises to be brutal for lawmakers many facing re-election as they scramble to find enough money to keep their states running without raising taxes. Tax collections continue to sputter. Federal stimulus dollars are about to dry up.

Rainy day funds have been tapped. And demand for services such as Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits is soaring. As lawmakers head back to state capitals this month, budget woes range "from bad to ridiculously bad," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard Poors in New York. "There are some states, those hit particularly hard by the recession, that I don't think can cut spending enough. They're running out of things to cut." Typically, the worst budget years for states are the two years after a recession ends.

Across the nation, budgets are already lean after several rounds on the chopping block. And unless lawmakers increase taxes or fees unpopular moves in an election year most will need to cut even more as they grapple with the steepest decline of tax receipts on record. Services ranging from higher education to programs for the elderly could be in jeopardy. The crunch could also mean new tolls to fund road projects, together their budgets for the current fiscal year. In Oregon, voters will go to the polls Jan.

26 to decide whether to uphold tax increases the Legislature imposed on corporations and higher-income residents. Scott Moore, of the pro-tax group Vote Yes for Oregon, said the $727 million tax increase package will protect schools and critical services while keeping the burden off middle-class families. But Pat McCormick of Ore-gonians Against Job-Killing Taxes argues the tax increases will cost the state private sector jobs and keep it in recession. Lawmakers in other states will be watching to see what happens, said Corina Eckl, fiscal policy director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "It really could be a bellwether for public tolerance," she said.

more prisoners being released early to trim corrections budgets, and the end of welfare programs that don't bring federal matching dollars. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; offers a bleak forecast: State budget shortfalls are likely to reach $180 billion for the coming fiscal year, double the size of Texas' annual budget. "It's going to be the toughest year yet," said Raymond Scheppach, director of the National Governors Association, who predicts funding could evaporate for higher education, the arts and economic development. "The states haven't hit bottom." Mary Ann Neureiter, who runs an adult day care center in suburban Atlanta, saw her state aid cut in half in 2009. The Cambridge House Enrichment Center once offered state-subsidized care to 10 low-income clients with disabilities such as Alzheimer's.

It's now down to three, and Neureiter fears the funding could dry up altogether this year. "It's heartbreaking because I foresee, in the coming year, it's going to get even worse for services for the elderly," she said. States had already closed a $146 billion gap when they put Obama ordered a look at the shortcomings that permitted the plot, which failed not because of U.S. actions but because the would-be attacker failed to set off a deadly detonation. The president has summoned homeland security officials to meet with him on Tuesday Brennan cited "a number of streams of information" the 23-year-old suspect's name was known to intelligence officials, his father had passed along his concern about the son's increasing radicalization and "little Brennan said.

He said the situation was not like before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when intelligence agencies failed to share tips and information that might have uncovered the plot. He said there "were no turf battles" between agencies. "There's no evidence whatsoever that any agency or department was reluctant to share" information. Brennan appeared on "Fox News Sunday," CNN's "State of the Union," ABC's "This Week," and NBC's "Meet the Press." snippets" from intelligence channels.

"But there was nothing that brought it all together." "In this one instance, the system didn't work. There were some human errors. There were some lapses. We need to strengthen it. But day in and day out, the successes are there." Abdulmutallab apparently assembled an explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet of a Detroit-bound Northwest flight, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals.

Passengers Airliner Continued from 1A Northwest airliner, has told U.S. investigators that he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. Brennan is leading a White House review of the incident. Obama has said there was a systemic failure to prevent the attack, which he said was instigated by an affiliate in Yemen of the al-Qaida terrorist network. and crew subdued the suspect when he tried to set off the explosion.

He succeeded only in starting a fire on himself. Brennan didn't say whether anyone is in line to be fired because of the oversights. He stood by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, although he acknowledged that she has "taken some hits" for saying that the airline security system had worked. It didn't, and she clarified her remarks to show she meant that the system worked only after the attack was foiled, Yemen Continued from 1A 1 Vi with explosives. He tried to detonate them as the aircraft approached Detroit, on Dec.

25. Yemen is a poor, decentralized and predominantly Muslim country on the Arabian Peninsula. It is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and the site of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors. A 2008 attack on the U.S.

Embassy killed one American. Given the active threat from al-Qaida, "we're not going to take any chances," Brennan said from Washington during appearances on four Sunday talk shows. Sen. Joe Lieberman identified three instances in which terrorists or sympathizers penetrated or evaded U.S defenses last year shootings at a military recruiting station and an Army base and the airline attack and said all three were linked to Yemen. "We've got to focus there pre-emptively and I'm confident we will," said Lieberman.

The Yemeni government, which issued no official comment on the embassy closures, is friendly to the West, but the population is often mistrustful of Western motives and influence. Yemen has pledged to clamp down on militancy, but government control is weak outside the capital and the country has a history of freeing some alleged militants and tolerating others. The Obama administration is growing more vocal about both the threat and the San'a government's limitations. Brennan said Westerners are at risk in Yemen until the government gets a better handle on extremism. The U.S.

will look case by case at whether to repatriate the remaining approximately 90 Yemeni detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, Brennan said. Seven of 42 Guantanamo detainees freed by the Obama administration were returned to Yemen, Brennan said, but doubts about the country's ability to police further freed detainees is a major obstacle to Obama's plan to shut down the facility Brennan reaffirmed the U.S. administration's support for the closure, but said that with regard to the Yemeni detainees, nothing would be done to put U.S. citizens at risk. U.S.

officials say terrorists are seeking new places to operate, including Yemen, Somalia and Southeast Asia, in part because of pressure on their previous sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some U.S. officials have said privately that Yemen's location at the heart of the Arab world, its history of tribal control, poverty, corruption and an ongoing civil war could make it the crucible of a future war. Brennan said the Obama administration is trying to head off the threat now. Gen.

David Petraeus, the U.S. general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made a visit to Yemen during the weekend. After meetings with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Petraeus announced that the U.S. this year will more than double the $67 million in counterterrorism aid that it provided Yemen in 2009. Access Continued from 1A such as Mother's Day.

For the first time, the museum also is helping families pay for one-hour, $6 programs and workshops, Vorachek said. "The need is huge, especially in this recession," she said. "We try to accommodate people as we have the funds to do that." The ACCESS program is still in its budding stages the estimated project cost is $71,000 to fund the pilot year. That figure includes both in-kind costs and donations the museum hopes to raise through individual contributions and grants, Vorachek said. Working with under-served families has long been a priority for the museum's strategic plan, but the ACCESS program is the first comprehensive effort, Vorachek said.

Programs the museum has run in the past targeted such groups as families caring for children in foster care and families staying in homeless shelters. Scholarships are available for museum programs. A reduced-price admission is offered for anyone needing financial assistance. About 81,000 people visit A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village each year; about 20,000 have participated in museum programs.

Museum founder Martin Morris said the museum always had a commitment to children who should attend, but couldn't. Morris, now vice president and chief development officer of the Salem Hospital Foundation, said museum namesake A.C. Gilbert emphasized the importance of play for all children. "He really did understand the importance of future generations," he said. "You have to lay the foundation for good solid learning.

By making learning fun, it makes kids grow into good adults." Now, ACCESS also ties into the museum's 20th anniversary and "Discover the Wonder" fundraising event on Feb. 6. A kick-off event that invites the community to learn about the ACCESS program is set for Feb. 1. Maldonado Bell and Auer led a series of meetings with community groups to identify efforts to increase museum access to both low-income and minority families, including the Salem-Keizer migrant education program, the Farmworker Housing Development Corp.

community Colonia Libertad and Community Action Agency Head Start. The program is intended to help a variety of groups: homeless families in shelters, students at schools that qualify for federal funds for low-income families known as Title and nonprofits serving youth, such as Boys and Girls Club branches. The program is designed for organizations or schools to purchase discounted membership packages so children and families could use a free museum pass; up to 2,000 free passes could be distributed. Transportation also would be offered for larger groups. ACCESS also could bring museum classes to those organizations and to families staying in homeless shelters.

About 5,000 individuals, and up to 25 families staying at a homeless shelter could benefit from these classes. A.C. Gilbert's also will partner with Marion-Polk Food Share to bring children's activities to the sites that offer free lunches during spring break. Portland Children's Museum has similar programs targeted at increasing access. Through its program Community Partners, organizations can apply for discounted group admissions and families can be eligible for free museum nights, said Shannon Grosswiler, a museum spokeswoman.

Community Partners' sponsors include Target Corporation, which underwrites free admission to all families on the first Friday of each month. TIMOTHY J. GONZALEZ I Statesman Journal Liam Crateau, 5, visits A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village, which is launching a campaign to boost access for low-income and minority children. Honored for efforts The Association of Children's Museums recognizes member museums that have launched diversity efforts in 2008.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, "The Power of Children the exhibit features the legacy of three children Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White who faced profound struggles. Explorations Children's Museum, Lakeland, partnership with the local housing authority to provide camp scholarships for undeserved children. Creative Discovery Museum, Chattanooga, PlayGym caregiver and child play program for children 4 months to 3 years that is provided on a school site for teen parents. Grand Rapids Children's Museum, Grand Rapids, "World at Play" temporary exhibit to show children and families what play looks like in Ghana, Italy and Vietnam. SOURCE: Association of Children's Museums i 1 1- r' About 10 percent of all admissions to children's museums are free or deeply discounted, according to the Association of Children's Museums, which has 341 museum members.

Association spokeswoman Diane Kopasz said community contributions, particularly corporate sponsors, are vital to underwrite the costs of offering free and reduced museum admission. "It's a reflection of the entire community's values. Children's museums are community institutions," Kopasz said. "They're for the entire community, and they do as much as they can to open the doors to the entire community" rliaoStatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941 In Time for the Holidays! Window Coverings can create the style for your surroundings. Rebates Speca Pricing on seect Shades and Blinds Choose Fabric Treatments from Sem'j Largest Selection Beautifying Salem Homes For 40 Years.

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