Oregon tax revolt

The Oregon tax revolt is a political movement in Oregon which advocates for lower taxes. This movement is part of a larger anti-tax movement in the western United States. The tax revolt, carried out in large part by a series of citizen's initatives and referenda, has reshaped the debate about taxes and public services in Oregon.

The leaders of the tax revolt include Don McIntire, president of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, and Bill Sizemore, leader of Oregon Taypayers United.

Inspired in part by Proposition 13 in the neighboring state of California, Oregon voters placed limits to property tax in the Oregon Constitution in 1990 with the passage of Measure 5. Voters were frustrated by the increase in property taxes caused by an influx of population in the Portland area, which is surrounded by an urban growth boundary. Measure 5 shifted the burden of school funding to the state (which levies an income tax) and away from counties.

Measure 5 also equalized school funding throughout the state, meaning that schools in rural areas benefited while schools in Portland saw budgets reduced.

However, even with the caps on property taxes, the continual increase in property values in Portland brought higher tax bills for some residents. This led to Sizemore's Measure 47, which attempted to cap the annual rate at which property taxes could rise. Measure 47 also instituted Oregon's double majority rule, in which local tax levies could only pass in minor elections when voter turnout surpassed half of the registered voters. Problems with the legal wording of Measure 47 caused the legislature to send Measure 50 to voters, which clarified Measure 47.

The tax revolt manifested itself in a series of budget battles in the Oregon Legislature about school funding, the Oregon Health Plan, and other spending priorities. Governor John Kitzhaber and the Republican leadership in the legislature clashed repeatedly over budget priorities.

In 2000, Don McIntire helped place Measure 8 on Oregon's ballot, which would have limited state spending to 15 percent of personal income for the previous biennum. It was defeated. However, in the same election Oregonians enshrined kicker checks--refunds on unexpected state revenues--in the state constitution with Measure 86.

More recently, anti-tax activists have defeated two proposals (Measure 28 and Measure 30) by the state legislature to temporary increase income taxes.

Sizemore's group has run into some legal problems in recent days. Sizemore sparked the ire of several public employees unions with a series of initiatives aimed at reducing public employee pensions and reducing their political power. The unions responded with the Voter Education Project, which tracked signature gatherers hired by Sizemore to place measures on the ballot. After documenting a few instances of fraud by the gatherers, the Oregon Education Association, a teachers' union, successfully sued Sizemore's organization under racketeering laws in 2003. The $2.3 million judgment against Oregon Taxpayer's United serverly hurt Sizemore's ability to put measures on the ballot, and the allegations of fraud lead to the passage of Measure 26 in 2002, which prohibits the payment of signature gatherers on a per-signature basis.

Tax activists generally claim that Oregon's government is wasteful and inefficent, arguing that the government could do better with less. They often highlight programs that they feel are unnecessary. Opponents of the tax revolt argue that passing tax decreases via ballot measure leads to short-sighted policy making, in which voters are enticed to vote with the revolt by lower tax bills and without thinking about the budget problems caused by reduced revenues. Nonetheless, both sides agree that the tax revolt has had and continues to have an important impact on the political landscape of Oregon.

See also: List of Oregon ballot measures

External links

• News article about Sizemore (http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=64751)
• Taxpayer Association of Oregon (http://www.oregonwatchdog.com/index.php)
• Bill Sizemore's web site (http://www.billsizemore.net/)
• Oregon Territory program on the tax revolt Part 1 (http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonterritory/audio/20031107a.m3u) Part 2 (http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonterritory/audio/20031107b.m3u)(m3u audio stream)
• Fund Oregon's Future Today (http://www.fundoregon.org/)