06:36 AM PST on Monday, December 1, 2003

By kgw.com and AP Staff

Business and political leaders from Oregon's 36 counties will gather Monday to consider the state of their state during the second annual "leadership summit," convened by Oregon's Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.

The idea is to bring together local, state and federal officials of all political backgrounds with business leaders from all sectors of the economy to brainstorm about Oregon's future.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. (AP Photo)

Oregon Senators Gordon Smith will also speak at the meeting, as will Governor Ted Kulongoski.

Leaders are expected to discuss how to improve Oregon's tax system, freight mobility, land-use laws and management of state forests.

About 1,200 people are expected to attend the summit at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

Last December, more than 1,300 business and political leaders came together to help form a common economic agenda at the summit. Monday's summit meeting will serve as a performance review of the plan hatched as Kulongoski took office and the Legislature grappled with an unprecedented budget shortfall.

The Public Forum Institute partnered with the Oregon Business Council to organize the summit and present the findings of Stepping Up, the Oregon Business Plan, a year-long, statewide, business-led project to take stock of Oregon’s economy and what it needs to prosper in the decades ahead.

The project held a series of regional meetings and focus groups for business and community leaders. The project also assessed the state of the Oregon economy, as well as the public infrastructure, services, and other factors needed to help businesses succeed.

But talk will also turn to challenges that lie ahead, said Duncan Wyse, president of the Oregon Business Council, including the debate over how best to restructure the state's tax system, and how to adequately fund public education and the university system.

Some goals remain to be reached. Last year, the plan urged legislators to establish a rainy-day fund to help preserve services during economic downturns -- an account that has yet to materialize.

"I couldn't give them very high marks for moving toward tax reform," said Ron Parker, president and chief executive of Hampton Affiliates, a Portland-based lumber company.

Parker was chairman of the Oregon Business Council's public finance tax force last year.