Oregonians face a major reckoning this fall about the services and programs they’d like to have — and the taxes they’re willing to pay to have them.
Measure 97, on the Nov. 8 ballot, would raise some $3 billion a year in new revenue by raising taxes on large corporations’ gross receipts. That’s enough money to swell the state’s budget by roughly a third.
But the measure has also sparked one of the most expensive election fights Oregon has ever seen.
Advocates say the measure would boost school funding and plug a $1.35 billion budget shortfall driven by pension and health care costs. Without new money, they say, lawmakers would have to cut their way out of debt, with no cushion for the next recession.
Opponents warn of ruin for homegrown businesses, particularly those with low margins, and higher prices for consumers who are likely to bear some of the measure’s cost. Others, wary of government overreach, strongly believe the state must learn to spend within its means...
Read more at:
http://klcc.org/post/measure-97-how-we-got-here
