A distrust of state spending, worries about Oregon’s failing economy and an apprehension of tax increases are among the top reasons Measure 28 opponents are fighting the $724 million measure on the Jan. 28 ballot.
And as support for Measure 28 continues to gain momentum in the polls, debate is heating up.
“(Measure 28) is putting a small Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” Rep. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg said.
Kruse said the only way for Oregon to escape the recession is to invigorate the private sector — not to use tax cuts to take money out, which he said would only perpetuate economic woes.
“Quite simply, the recession isn’t in the government; it’s in the private sector,” he said.
Kruse, along with Rep. Dan Doyle, R-Salem, developed a no-tax plan to balance last year’s budget that included eliminating new programs, selling a large portion of the motor pool and reforming the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System. Although Kruse said the plan itself won’t be pushed for the next budget, some of the specific ideas from the plan, such as freezes on state wages, will be toted.
Russ Walker, northwest director of Citizens for a Sound Economy, said an income tax increase would have multiple adverse effects on the economy. Walker noted that Oregon, which he said is competing with 49 other states for businesses, would be an unattractive location for new industry if the increase goes through.
He warned against adding new taxes to Oregon’s high capital gains tax, which affects investment profit, along with the expanding business activities tax and burdensome regulatory structure for businesses. The result, he said, would be that new businesses will not settle here and struggling businesses will be scared away.
To prevent cuts to essential services such as roads, police and schools, non-essential services could undertake alterations if the measure fails, Walker said.
Such changes could include the privatization of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, elimination of Certificate of Initial and Advanced Mastery programs, reformation of land usage and opening of forests to timber harvesting.
“The key is finding the barriers the government put in place and removing them,” he said. “If you remove them, the economy will run on its own.”
If Measure 28 passes, the income tax rates for single and joint filings would increase to 9.5 percent from 9 percent. Corporate income tax rates would increase to 6.93 percent from 6.6 percent. The money generated would replenish $310 million in cuts to schools and other state programs made in September.
College Republicans Chairman Jarrett White said taxpayers should not have to pay more just because the Oregon Legislature is unable to balance its budget.
“I don’t think, in human civilization ever, that raising taxes in a recessionary economy has helped in the long run,” he said. “What they are trying to do is just a short fix.”
White added that higher education is futile in a floundering economy with high unemployment.
“A diploma is useless if we don’t have jobs,” he said.