With the expected announcement yesterday that Governor Kulongoski will sign two major tax bills needed to balance the Oregon budget, the battle to protect the Oregon budget from even further disastrous cuts has begun. These measures will raise taxes on the wealthiest Oregonians and on corporations (who had been paying a $10 minimum last adjusted in 1929!). The Oregon GOP has made it perfectly clear that getting these tax measures referred to the ballot is their #1 priority and so it will therefore serve as a test of how far they have fallen. Given OR's history of rejecting such increases, a rejection of them this time would not necessarily indicate GOP strength but if they are upheld the OR GOP could truly be in for a long time in the wilderness.
Cross-Posted from Loaded Orygun: http://www.loadedorygun.net/...
The tax measures:
OR HB2649 (Personal Taxes):
Raises marginal taxes on those making more than $125,000 as an individual or $250,000 as a couple to 10.8%, raises tax rate for those making more than $250,000 as an individual or $500,000 as a couple to 11% (you only pay the higher rate on the income above these levels). The tax sunsets in 2013.
OR HB3405 (Corporate Taxes):
Increases the corporate minimum tax from $10 to $150 and then bases the minimum tax for a business on its revenue (going all the way up to $100,000 minimum for a business grossing $100M or more in OR). Increases the tax rate by .3% for income over $250,000. Goes to the general fund for four years and then to the state's rainy day fund (created by OR Democrats in 2007 in an effort led by then-OR House Speaker now-US Senator Jeff Merkley).
The Signature Chase and the Players:
Under Article 4, Section 1 of the OR Constitution (Oregon Constitution):
The people reserve to themselves the referendum power, which is to approve or reject at an election any Act, or part thereof, of the Legislative Assembly that does not become effective earlier than 90 days after the end of the session at which the Act is passed.
(b) A referendum on an Act or part thereof may be ordered by a petition signed by a number of qualified voters equal to four percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor at the election at which a Governor was elected for a term of four years next preceding the filing of the petition. A referendum petition shall be filed not more than 90 days after the end of the session at which the Act is passed.
Therefore, opponents of these measures have until late September (either September 27 or 28 I think) to get approximately 55,000 signatures submitted to the OR Secretary of State. A special election would be held in January if this occurs (and if it does I'll write a diary telling you what I think about its chances) in order to allow the legislature to handle the outcome in its anticipated February 2010 session.
It is by no means certain that they will get these signatures but in any case it is important to know who is supporting it.
The main group supporting the measure is a newly created PAC called "Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes", led by veteran conservative lobbyist Mark Nelson (who has represented a number of conservative clients, most notably the tobacco industry). This PAC has raised $189,000 so far, with $100,000 coming from four major conservative PACs (the Restaurant Association, the Housing Lobby, Automobile Dealers and Grocery Stores) and the rest coming from a collection of businesses including oil companies among others.
Nelson's group has hired signature-gathering firm "Voice of the Electorate, LLC", which is led by repeated failed GOP candidate Kevin Mannix (who for once it appears will not run in 2010) and longtime anti-tax/OR GOP insiders Ross Day and Russ Walker. This firm will collect the signatures and will be supplemented by the OR GOP, which has made it perfectly clear that they stand fully behind this effort.
Will it succeed in even making the ballot? One only knows but in any case, it is indeed, as labor leader Kevin Looper put it in Today's Oregonian, a battle of "greed vs. need" and one can only hope need wins out.