BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The Senate Republican Office announced Wednesday that they are seeking a vote among legislators to call the body into a special session.

GOP officials are asking for the session to deal with Tuesday’s news that the current biennium is facing a gap of over $560 million between what the Legislature budgeted and what the state economist projected revenues to be for this year.

Bend Republican Senator Chris Telfer had this to say in Wednesday’s press release: “Callous over-spending by the majority party has created this massive shortfall, and some reductions are an unfortunate necessity.”

However, Sen. Telfer and GOP leaders have spoken out against Governor Ted Kulongoski’s plan to allocate the budget himself and make 9% cuts across the board for state departments and agencies.

“These cuts should happen carefully and precisely reflecting the priorities of Oregonians, protecting the most vulnerable and investments in K-12 classrooms. That means the legislature must come into session and do what it was elected to do,” stated Sen. Telfer.

The Senate Republican Office has reported that ballots to initiate a special session will be sent to the state’s Representatives and Senators as soon as the Legislative Administrator deems it “practical.”

If a majority of the members in both chambers vote to have a special session, then the Legislature will be required to have one.

Gov. Kulongoski said in a press conference Tuesday that this time of year, with the partisanship acquired during an election cycle, would not be conducive to making good policy decisions.