There is another special election happening this January on the other side of the country from Massachusetts. One that I want to highlight for you because it is vitally important to the future of our state.
These measures would raise $733 Million in funding for education, public safety and social services in a time where they have been dramatically cut already due to the recession. However, millions are being spent on ads by the opposition, filled with misinformation for the purpose of serving political interests.
Today, I took part in one of the largest canvassing efforts in Oregon history to combat this misinformation, and urge people to vote yes!
Hi my name is Bill Bradbury, I'm the former Secretary of State of Oregon, and I am a Democrat running for Governor of Oregon in 2010.
There is another special election happening this January on the other side of the country from Massachusetts. One that I want to highlight for you because it is vitally important to the future of our state.
Next Tuesday, January 26, we are holding a special election here in Oregon on two referendums: Ballot Measures 66 and 67.
These measures would raise $733 Million in funding for education, public safety and social services in a time where they have been dramatically cut already due to the recession.
Ballot Measure 67 calls for an increase in corporate taxation from the current alternative minimum of $10 (yes corporations in Oregon have paid just $10 since 1931, this includes Nike, Intel and Columbia Sportswear and Oregon has the 49th lowest rate of business taxation in the country) to a fairer system where most small businesses would not be affected at all and those that would see an increase would move to $150 a year. Ballot Measure 66 would increase taxes by 1.8% on households making more than $250,000.
I believe these are moderate, sensible, long overdue Measure that are essential to the livability of our state.
I would like to believe that our economic opportunities increase over time not diminish, that our children's future will be brighter not dimmer, that they will have a better education than I had, a cleaner environment than I had, and live a healthier and longer life than my own. I believe I share this dream with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which is why I've chosen today to write about the prospects of Oregon's future.
This state has an obligation to preserve vital funding to services like higher education, The Oregon Health Plan, and our public safety. These services, along with the hard work and innovative talent of our people, allow us to move forward together, towards that brighter future we long for. However, our economic crisis runs deep here. Our state legislature, held by a Democratic majority, has already cut $2 billion from this bienniums budget (hardly the 'wasteful spending' body that the conservatives have denounced)– reducing it a further $733 million could be the tipping point that leads us to failure like our neighbor to the south, California. It will most certainly add to the already, very real, and negative human implications of our states diminished capacity to serve the people .
For the last 20 years special interests have used the ballot box to veto legislative tax increases, but this time the conservatives have asked too much. If Oregon voters choose to pass measure 66 & 67, it could mark a paradigmatic shift in Oregon politics. It would indicate the reversal of 20 years of cuts in our spending (spending that is directly correlated to the ability of our state to provide its most crucial services). These cuts have completely transformed our states capacity to fulfill its purpose. Without property tax increases, we have been unable to keep up with the demands of growing classrooms that require new technologies and more teachers. Mandatory minimums have funneled spending away from Colleges towards prisons, taxing our students ability to afford rising tuition.
All the while conservative voices have rallied against Democrats and liberals, challenging us to find better ways of spending our revenue. This challenge, once a healthy exercise in fiscal responsibility, has become bent by the worn ideas of a combative right. Our state can simply no longer bear more cuts, especially in this, our most dire economic hour. Passing 66 & 67 could be the beginning of the end for the fear-mongering conservative tactics that have plagued our state for too long.
Today I had the opportunity to join the largest canvass I have ever been a part of. Over 500 working Oregonians showed up on their day off to canvass for these Measures in honor of Martin Luther King. 500 folks who are ready to reject that fear-mongering. Ready to have a real conversation about what it costs to live in the state we all say we want.
We marched door to door asking voters to consider the consequences of a no vote (to be more accurate I rode my Segway, which at least one little girl found very peculiar). Their dedication was remarkable and you could feel the presence of a winning team. Accusations have been made that these measures have drawn out the worst of Oregon politics – that is not what I saw today in the Yes Campaigns crowded room. I saw a campaign that drew hundreds of both the young and the young at heart, ready to work towards that common brighter future we seek.
Please join me in voting Yes on 66 and 67.