Should Oregon trim state government spending by around $300 million, particularly by controlling public employee health insurance costs (Senate Bill 1067, 2017)? Called the bill "faux cost control" and voted "no." "It seems like the solution to our big problems is ... more government control, be it rent control, be it gun control or now price fixing of the health care sector," said Buehler, an orthopedic surgeon who objected to a requirement in the bill that public employee health plans to pay no more than double the Medicare reimbursement for services at certain hospitals.
Buehler says Oregon should switch to a strategy often touted by Republicans called "zero-based budgeting," building state government budgets from zero and requiring agencies to justify every expenditure.
The Bend Republican wants to control spending, in part, by limiting state employees' compensation increases, meaning salary and benefits, to 3.4 percent annually.