At the polls on Nov. 7, Oregonians will vote on two ballot measures carrying significant consequences for the future of the state. If passed, Measures 41 and 48 will reform Oregon’s tax laws and impose further controls on state spending by decreasing tax revenue and subjecting budget proposals to a series of legislative approvals. These measures would drastically affect the amount of state funding available for critical programs regarding education, safety and health care.
Measure 41 would lower state income taxes in the short term by allowing taxpayers to opt for state tax deductions equal to their federal tax deductions if they exceed the amount of their personal state exemption credits. The measure would drastically drop the state’s general fund revenue and would decrease funding for a multitude of state programs.
Measure 48 would require spending increases to be passed by two-thirds majorities in the Oregon House and Senate and must then be approved by a majority of voters. The process would apply to all proposed spending that would exceed spending in the previous two-year period adjusted for inflation and population change. Compounding the problematic nature of limiting spending increases so severely, the measure also lacks clear and specific implementation guidelines. These measures are wide-reaching in their potential harm to important state programs in Oregon, namely public education. While marketed under the appeal of decreased taxes, Measures 41 and 48 will incur long-term costs for Oregon taxpayers by cutting valuable state programs. Funding for health care, transportation, public safety and forest fire protection would be cut significantly as a result of this legislation. For public education the cuts would raise tuition for students while the quality of their education would decline. If enacted, these cuts will all come back to affect Oregonians negatively.
It is important for students seeking higher-education to consider these measures’ impact on the future of their education. If Measure 41 passes, University President Dave Frohnmayer said, it will take nearly $800 million from next year’s budget cycle, a large percentage of which currently funds education, health care and public safety. The University will find it extremely difficult to compensate for this lack of funding with private donations, which are typically given to specific departments and often neglect critical operating costs. The value of students’ education would suffer as funding cuts spread throughout the state university system. The measures would decrease the amount of financial aid available to qualified in-state students, making higher-education for low-income Oregonians even more inaccessible.
Measure 48 stands to damage public programs as well. A piece of similar legislation passed more than a decade ago in Colorado caused funding for the state’s public colleges and universities to drop from 35th to 48th in the nation. In Oregon, Measure 48 would reduce funding available to state services by $2.2 billion if applied to the 2007-09 budget.
Oregonians can’t afford to back these ballot measures.
We applaud President Frohnmayer and Student Senate President Sarah Hamilton for meeting on Monday to raise awareness regarding these measures. Their outspoken cooperation should encourage students and all other Oregonians to vote “No” on Ballot Measures 41 and 48 come Nov. 7. We hope voters will overturn these misguided and harmful pieces of legislation. Anything else will seriously jeopardize the future of the vital state programs on which Oregonians rightly depend.