Thursday, January 28, 2010

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has set aside its history of shooting down tax increases on statewide ballots, with voters endorsing higher taxes amid a brutal economic slump. Democrats in the Oregon Legislature made it as easy as they could for the voters to raise taxes on somebody else, and the electorate responded Tuesday by approving Measures 66 and 67. The increases approved Tuesday will hit people with taxable income upward of $125,000 — estimated at fewer than 3 percent of filers. Many businesses who had been paying an annual $10 minimum will see that rise to at least $150. With 91 percent of the vote counted, the vote was 54-46 on Measure 66 and 53-47 on Measure 67. Oregon voters have consistently rebuffed legislative attempts to take more in tax revenue — such as a cigarette tax to pay for health insurance for children three years ago, two previous income tax measures that would have hit most Oregonians and nine sales tax measures over the decades. A Democratic legislative leader, Senate President Peter Courtney, said he was, just in case, preparing a statement acknowledging defeat just before the results were reported Tuesday. "This is a tax vote?" he exclaimed later when the victory was evident. "This is indescribable ... It's Oregon being Oregon." The vote affirms the two-year budget the Legislature controlled by Democrats adopted last year, and spares it $727 million worth of budget cutting during a four-week session that begins Monday.

12 comments:

  1. Good news for students and social services in Oregon!! The Measures that I wrote about in a previous blog both passed, meaning that for the first time in nearly eighty years corporations and the wealthy will be paying more to support the vital human infastructure of this state. It may seem small to many outside here, but it is a hopeful sign.

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  2. Yes, its the voters looking to the future for a change.

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  3. It's good stuff and really in tune with what we do wish to see as progress..

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  4. And it bucks some bad trends toward cutting public education--its been decimated here. The city of Medford lost about ten percent of its local school budget , and more cuts were on the way.

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  5. Oregonians have a thinking brain and yes I hope now that there is hope for the rest of us-

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  6. I've always suspected something in the Oregonian water. It just tastes sweeter there. ;¬D

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  7. It's a start at least Heidi--maybe this vote can inspire a little more backbone in Washington.

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  8. Sometimes it really does Red. Thanks.

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  9. Good result Doug, forcing the more wealthy citizens and businesses to contribute more in taxes toward the social infrastructure in Oregon, although $150 still doesn't sound like very much tax, it is a significant improvement on the ludicrously low former $10 annual rate for businesses. Good to see Oregon acting locally but thinking globally to stop the rot.

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  10. Too true, AA. One of the nice things about the result is that almost all the major newspapers in the state (20 of them, including Portland's "The Oregonian", the big dog in the state ) told the voters to reject the tax hikes, saying, basically, "we want to support schools, but hey... " . And, lo and behold, the corporate-owned media endorsement was rejected by the voters.

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