Ken Goe in the Oregonian has the short version and links to additional stories:
A bill expected to provide enough state funding to honor Gov. Kate Brown’s pledge of $40 million for the 2021 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships squeaked through the Oregon House on Friday.
The bill passed by a vote of 37-18. It needed 36 votes to pass. It now heads to the Senate.
The measure would keep in place the state’s elevated lodging tax. The bill’s passage overcame vocal opposition from advocates for affordable housing and critics of the salaries of executives of Travel Oregon,. Revenue raised by the tax goes first to Travel Oregon, which is expected to pass it on to Oregon21, local organizing committee for the World Outdoor Championships.
The World Outdoor Championships are scheduled next year from Aug. 6-15 at the University of Oregon’s rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene. More than 200 countries are expected to participate.
This will be the first time the World Outdoor Championships have taken place in the U.S.
Here is The O’s story on the bill’s passage and issues raised in debate.
And here is the R-G story: Bill for state funding of the World Outdoor Championships passes the Oregon House.
I read the links quickly, so I may have missed the data, but what is the aggregate cost of this thing? How much is Uncle Phil paying? All I’ve ever read was his portion is “significant,” with no actual tally given. From that, I’m guessing the bulk of financing will be issuing public bonds, which presumably will be serviced from student loans..,
Read the articles.
UO and our governor and the UO Foundation don’t think they should have to disclose the entire budget for this event. It is up to your imagination to figure out how much is being spent and also estimate how much this community is getting in benefits from this event.
I did, but none seem to mention the aggregate construction cost of the buildout. It would be revelatory to compare the $40 million the The Gov’s trying to give away with the entire financing package…