Oregon voters will soon decide whether to raise taxes to avoid $544.6 million in cuts to education, public safety and other services.
However, Oregonians must register to vote by Jan. 13 to be eligible to participate in the Feb. 3 special election, and this week the ASUO is running a campaign to get students registered to vote in time for the deadline.
“We feel that this ballot measure is really important so we really want as many students to vote as possible,” said ASUO Legislative Associate Sara Karns, who is in charge of the drive.
On the special election ballot is Measure 30, which seeks to raise $800 million through tax increases. If the measure fails, higher education will face $14.3 million in state and local cuts, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Web site, http://www.oregonvotes.org. The University alone will lose $2 million, Karns said.
If passed, it will temporarily raise income taxes and extend the 10-cent cigarette tax to January 2006, as well as permanently raise some corporate taxes, reduce senior citizens’ medical expense deductions and cut in half deductions on property taxes paid early, according to the Web site.
A single person earning less than $10,000 will see no increase in their taxes, while a family earning about $41,000, the median income in Oregon, would pay an additional $36 on its income taxes, according to the Web site.
These changes will apply to 2003-2004 tax returns and will continue through 2005.
“Sometimes it’s really hard for students to see how elections affect their lives,” ASUO President Maddy Melton said, adding that the effect is “transparent to see” in this case.
ASUO volunteers will hand out voter registration cards Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the EMU Amphitheater, in front of the University Bookstore and near the Grab ‘n Go Marketplace in Hamilton Commons.
Volunteers will also give in-class presentations on Measure 30 and canvas in neighborhoods with student-heavy populations through Feb. 3.
Melton said the ASUO has registered more than 2,300 students to vote this school year, but she hopes students will continue to show interest in signing up to vote in this campaign.
“We find it’s a lot easier to register students when there’s a sense of urgency,” she said.
Karns said she was involved in a similar campaign to register students before February 2003’s Measure 28 special election. Though the measure failed 55 percent to 45 percent, Karns said she thought the ASUO voter registration drive was successful.
“I think a lot of people learned about the issue that didn’t know about it,” she said.
She said she is hoping for similar success with this campaign.
“We don’t care how people vote. We just want them to vote,” she said.