Election mailing deadline todayThe last day to safely mail in special election ballots is today. After today, ballots sent through the mail likely wouldn’t reach the elections office by the Tuesday deadline, and must be dropped off at a ballot box instead. |
This fall, Oregon voters have been wrapped up in the most expensive ballot campaign in the state’s history, and they’ve been asked to decide on two measures that revive debates on past issues. The record-breaking spending swirled around a proposed tax on tobacco to fund health insurance: Measure 50. And in an attempt to reform Measure 37 from 2004, voters will decide if they want to tame private landowners’ rights to build homes and large developments, specifically in prime farmlands and forestlands: Measure 49. The special ballot election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and all mail-in ballots must be deposited by Friday, or dropped in a ballot box by Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Oregon State Ballot Measure 49 – Land Use
Measure 49 modifies Measure 37, giving private landowners the opportunity to build a specified number of homes as compensation for land use restrictions imposed after they acquired their property. If the measure passes, landowners who previously filed Measure 37 claims that were approved will be allowed to build up to three homes on their property, or up to 10 homes if they can prove that land-use regulations reduced their property values. The passage of Measure 49 will also disallow large-scale development under the premise of property value reduction.
Supporters of the new measure claim it fixes the flaws in Measure 37 that allow out-of-control development leading to the destruction of Oregon’s farmlands and forests. They also say such large-scale development would put too much strain on Oregon’s waterways and reservoirs.
Proponents also say Measure 49 accomplishes what Measure 37 was intended to do. Families who want their property value to stay at a marketable rate, build retirement homes or additional housing on their property and pass land through inheritance will have the ability to do so under Measure 49, and passing the measure will not put these requests in jeopardy.
Opponents, however, say that property owners should be allowed to do what they wish with their lands, and that government has no right intervene in private property concerns. They also claim that passing the measure will allow the government to take landowners property without compensation, and some people will lose their life savings.
Oregon State Ballot Measure 50 – Cigarette Tax
This measure amends the state constitution by increasing the tax on cigarettes by 84.5 cents per pack, and increases the tax on other tobacco products to generate an estimated $152.7 million in the 2007-2009 financial period. The revenue generated by this tax increase dedicates funds to provide health care for uninsured children and low-income adults in the state through Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Healthy Kids Plan. It will also provide revenue for tobacco prevention and education programs.
Arguments in support of this measure point to the high number of uninsured children in Oregon – nearly 117,000 – and the necessity to provide them with adequate health care. Without funding from the tobacco tax, supporters say these children will be susceptible to a host of diseases and injures that could possibly hamper any chance at a healthy development without health insurance. The funds to support tobacco prevention could reduce the number of tobacco-related diseases in this future generation.
Opponents have been waving the flag of constitutional purity across television screens, saying that by putting the tax in the document, it will give politicians the precedent they need to allow any future tax into the constitution. The major opponents have been funded by big tobacco companies who assert that by taxing cigarettes, the number of consumers will shrivel to a level that won’t result in enough money to support the Healthy Kids Program. They believe politicians might be forced to create new taxes to make up for the lost revenue.
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