Senate leader: Trooper funding likely to get legislative OK

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, predicted today that funding for 39 additional state troopers will be approved during the supplemental legislative session convening on Monday.

But there’s a catch.

The money won’t go directly to the Oregon State Police, Courtney said, but will be reserved in an emergency fund and appropriated “as needed.”

That means further legislative scrutiny following the special session by the Emergency Board, which acts on funding requests during the interim.

Earmarking the appropriation means it can’t be spent on anything else, but it does not dictate when the money will be released.

“We’re going to do it in a way that, when it’s needed, it will be available,” Courtney said.

House and Senate Republicans, led by Rep. Bruce Hanna of Roseburg, the minority leader, Rep. Andy Olson of Albany, a former trooper, and Senate minority leader Ted Ferrioli of John Day, have been beating the drums for more patrols since the end of the 2007 regular session.

Last year lawmakers approved hiring 100 new state patrol officers, but rejected a last-ditch move by Hanna for additional officers to provide 24/7 highway coverage.

- Don Jepsen, for the Mail Tribune