http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2003/0711/local/stories/05local.htm

July 11, 2003

Pertussis, obesity grants denied

Federal grants would have helped Jackson County fight both

By DON JEPSEN

for the Mail Tribune

SALEM — Sen. Jackie Winters says bureaucratic double-speak may have cost the state millions in federal grants.

The chairwoman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on Human Services, a Salem Republican, said that may be one reason why co- chairmen of the full Ways and Means Committee denied Department of Human Services requests for "free money" in the form of federal grants.

Among the requests denied by the co-chairmen was one to fight obesity in five counties, including Jackson County, and another to vaccinate against pertussis (whooping cough). Jackson County, particularly Medford, was hit hard by the disease in recent months.

Winters said DHS too often fails to make its case for federal funds because it does not effectively communicate with legislators. Winters is an avowed enemy of bureaucratic jargon.

"The bureaucrats need to put it in human terms — What will this money do to better the lives of Oregonians?" she said. "Being able to communicate effectively is worthy of agencies developing and honing their communication skills."

But Winters said her subcommittee will seek to reverse the co-chairmen’s decision on several grant denials, including a $1.5 million annual grant over the next four years to fight obesity.

Jackson County would receive $281,000 a year. Winters also wants to gain approval for the whooping cough monitoring and inoculation program — $325,000 annually for the next five years.

"(Pertussis) is a serious disease," said Rep. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, a physician and member of the subcommittee. "It can cause mental retardation and death. I can't see why the request was denied."

Bates said obesity also is a significant health risk, second only to smoking. "We really need to get serious on this issue."

Efforts were unsuccessful to contact the co-chairmen — Reps. Randy Miller, R-West Linn, and Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby — on why some federal grant requests were approved and others weren’t.

Acronyms are another pet peeve of Winters’. Any witness testifying before the subcommittee who is caught using them is fined; the money goes to the Oregon Food Bank. One DHS witnesses who was tripped up during a hearing Thursday admitted he didn't know the full name of a program he was discussing.

During his testimony, he referred to it repeatedly as "that program".

Don Jepsen is a free-lance writer living in Salem.

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