The state of Oregon has long formed a nationwide identity of being progressive. Our “forward thinking” ideas include having attendants pump our gas, allowing people to legally commit suicide and having a coastline entirely open for public use. While the objective behind being progressive is to advance the general welfare of the state, there is one long-standing characteristic in Oregon that is doing just the opposite. It is time we scrounge up all those pennies and implement a sales tax.
Oregon is facing one of the worst budget shortfalls in state history. The University alone is looking at a cut between $12 million and $13 million. Legislators scurried to prevent an even deeper cut, and now University administrators must find ways to tighten already constricted resources. An ideal solution would be to prevent these cuts. With a sales tax, that is exactly what could happen.
The last time a sales tax proposal was brought in front of Oregon voters was in 1993. Only 25 percent of votes cast were in favor, and the sales tax was soundly defeated. The common argument against the sales tax is that it places the same burden on both the rich and the poor. Granted that rate charged to rich people and poor people will be the same, but when people have more money they spend more money. Because the rich buy more, they will pay more in taxes, making this an illogical argument.
The other, much more understandable reason as to why the concept of a sales tax is frowned upon in Oregon is simply because it is different. As Oregonians, we are used to going down to the store and paying the exact price listed on the loaf of bread. Nothing more and nothing less. We are accustomed to this and are afraid of change.
I’d be the first person to say I enjoy the convenience of having no sales tax, but our state needs it. During my frequent travels to states such as Michigan, with its 6 percent sales tax, and California, with its 5.75 percent sales tax, I find it annoying when the 99-cent item from the value menu costs $1.05. It isn’t the fact that I can’t afford the extra 6 cents; it is the hassle of either finding some loose change or dealing with the loose change when you have to break a bill. A little hassle, though, can create a steady revenue stream the state of Oregon can depend on.
In our minds, adapting to a sales tax may be difficult, but it is also what our mind thinks that makes a sales tax so attractive. Nobody likes handing money over to the government, but it is much easier to do it a few pennies at a time than it is to write a big tax check every April. A few cents — or a few dollars on larger purchases — isn’t going to create a mentality that you’re breaking the bank.
There is no guarantee that a sales tax will immediately improve our schools. Just look at Mississippi, where despite having one of the largest sales taxes in the nation — 7 percent — the state has some of the nation’s poorest schools. It is up to our leaders in Salem where the money goes; but then again, maybe it isn’t. Why can’t our new sales tax be the first in the nation earmarked for education? In Oregon, we pride ourselves on being the first to do things, and this seems just as good a time as any to again do just that.