AOI's man in Salem. (Associated Oregon Industries CEO Richard Butrick)(Focus on Legislature '97)(Interview)

Richard Butrick stands up for businesses large and small at the state capitol

Some of the most powerful voices in Salem are not those of elected officials, but well-organized lobbies. And when the Republicans are in power, there is no more powerful lobby in the state capitol than Associated Oregon Industries.

The Business Journal's Steve Law spoke with AOI's longtime chief executive, Richard Butrick, about some of the issues business faces in the 1997 Legislature.

Q: Protecting Oregon's income tax "kicker" law is dear to your organization. Some critics say it's an antiquated law, and that business wouldn't operate that way. If businesses collected more revenue than expected, they wouldn't necessarily give it all back to shareholders.

Butrick: Our position is that it's the public's money and should go back to the public. We believe that money put back into the economy spins off more dollars for the general fund. And that is basic economics.

But given all the attacks on the kicker law from all sides, do you think it's politically tenable to just keep it as is? Republican Speaker of the House Lynn Lundquist, for example, wants to put aside the extra money for a rainy-day fund.

We note in Oregon that it rains an …