With November’s statewide Special Election rapidly approaching, most registered Oregonians are receiving their ballots by mail this week. Two state measures are on the ballot, and both have received considerable attention from the media and special interests alike. While both Measures 49 and 50 will have a noticeable impact on the quality of life in our state, Measure 50 stands to have a greater financial impact among non-property owners, including college students.
Measure 50 is a tobacco tax bill, placed on the ballot by the Oregon State Legislature earlier this year. If passed, the bill will raise Oregon’s state tobacco tax by 84.5 cents per pack, from its current rate of $1.18 per pack to the proposed rate of $2.02 per pack. The legislature’s fiscal office estimates that, if passed, revenues for the state would increase by more than $150 million for the remainder of the 2007-2009 fiscal period. During the 2009-2011 fiscal period – the first full term in which the tax increase would be in effect – revenue would increase by more than $230 million. Seventy percent of the tax money would be allocated towards funding Oregon’s Healthy Kids Program. The rest would be distributed to healthcare programs for low-income adults, tobacco prevention and education, and health services in rural areas.
State tobacco taxes are by no means a new source for funding health insurance programs, and tobacco companies like Philip Morris have poured millions of dollars into advertisements attacking the merits of Measure 50. They argue that the measure would give the Oregon legislature a “blank check,” courtesy of Oregon’s taxpayers. Their complaint refers to the $68 million withheld in the first year to help the legislature deal with costs related to increasing the scope of the state health care system.
Stakeholders in the argument against Measure 50 want the public to believe that the government will use this money to fund their own special interests. But there is too much transparency in our system to allow the legislature to do anything with that money other than what it is intended for – to expand our state’s health care plan. Another complaint is that cigarette revenues will decline as a result of the added tax burden, and therefore the money brought in will be insufficient to fund the Healthy Kids Program. But the state’s estimates have taken this factor into account, and expected earnings from the measure still figure to meet the necessary costs in these cases. Tobacco lobbyists are merely resorting to empty threats and scare tactics in hopes of swaying public opinion.
According to estimates by the office of Governor Ted Kulongoski, 117,000 children throughout the state are without any form of health insurance. The hundreds of millions of dollars raised by the tax increase proposed in Measure 50 would provide a much-needed safety net to these children, and their low-to-middle-income families. Insuring previously uncovered children will relieve the future burden of healthcare taxes, and ultimately make healthcare more affordable for everyone.