Voters OK budget bills
Measures 19 and 20 pass by
a nearly two-to-one margin,
raising cigarette taxes and
creating a rainy day school fund
Oregon votes 2002
Jan Montry
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
Oregon voters approved two bal
lot measures in a special election
Sept. 17, both fixing a small per
centage of the state budget short
fall and giving immediate funding
to K-12 schools for this year.
The two ballot measures were
referred to voters during the Legis
lature's third special session in
June to help fill what was then a
$750 million budget hole. The
money raised by the two measure
will not affect the current $482
million budget shortfall.
Measure 19 will convert the ed
ucation endowment fund — which
is funded by the lottery — into a
rainy-day account for K-12 educa
tion. The measure will then bor
row $150 million from the fund for
this school year.
Measure 20 will increase the
current state cigarette tax by 60
cents, ending in a total of $1.28
per pack. This new tax is expected
to raise $70.7 million in the cur
rent biennium and be mostly dedi
cated to compensating for earlier
Oregon Health Plan cuts.
Barb Bellamy, spokeswoman for
the 4J school district, said the suc
cess of Measure 19 will open $4.7
million for schools.
Election results
Measure 19 Ves No
Statewide 62% 38%
Lane County 62% 38%
Measure 20 Yes No
Statewide 64% 36%
Lane County 65% 35%
SOURCE: Secretary of State
“We already had to deal with an
88 million shortfall going into this
year, so we’ve had to make reduc
tions,” she said. “Measure 19 will
at least mean that balancing the
budget will be a lot less drastic.”
Bellamy added that schools are
now dependent on an income tax
increase to receive the rest of
their funding.
“(Measure 19) is really good for
us, as well as other schools in Ore
gon,” she said. “But there is 83
million we still don’t know about.”
The success of Measure 19 could
adversely affect higher education
students, however.
The Oregon Opportunity Grant,
which gets 25 percent of endow
ment fund interest to help college
students pay for school, will loose
approximately 83.5 million in
funding during the next biennium
because of Measure 19. As a re
sult, about 3,300 college students
will not be able to receive a por
tion of the grant.
“I think that it’s really
Turn to Results, page 15A
Cigarette tax
increase
In a Sept. 17 special election,
Oregon voters approved Ballot
Measure 20, which increases the
state’s cigarette tax by nearly 50
percent, from 68 cents to SI.28
perpack.
According to a recent survey by
the University Health Education
program, 22 percent of University
students say they use tobacco,
English major Martha Grover
said she would most likely quit
smoking with the increased ciga
rette tax, “Cigarettes aren’t a ne
cessity,” she said, “they’re a luxu
ry, but there are other luxuries
which could be taxed!"
Grover said she has a problem
with the state lottery as well as
cigarette taxes, which she sees
as tantamount to encouraging
people’s addictions. It’s unfair for
the government to target one
group, she said, especially when
“a lot of smokers are poor, and
they won’t quit.”
Bruee Blonigen, an associate
professor in the department of
Economics, said the problem
facing the state government is a
need for stable tax bases. The
cigarette tax, Blonigen said, al
lows legislators to get a good
sense of future revenue based on
current demand.
Legislators are “hanging their
hat on the fact that cigarettes are
fairly price insensitive,” he said.
Architecture major Asmund
Turn to page 15A
Ballot holds 12 new measures
In November, citizens will vote
on issues concerning
minimum wage, genetically
altered food and health care
Oregon votes 2002
Jan Montry
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
As the November election creeps
closer, Oregon could undergo sweep
ing changes, including a 40-cent in
crease to the minimum wage and re
quired labeling of genetically
engineered foods.
This year, Oregon Secretary of
State Bill Bradbury released 12 new
ballot measures, many fewer than
the 26 measures released in 2000.
Despite the low number, howev
er, battles between supporters
and opponents have already begun,
most vocally in relation to
two measures.
Measure 27, which would require
labeling of genetically engineered
foods in Oregon, is especially con
troversial in the food industry. In
the measure, “genetically-engi
neered” food is defined as “(food)
produced or altered with tech
niques that change the molecular
or cell biology of an organism by
means ... not possible under natu
ral conditions or processes.”
Katelyn Lord, a chief petitioner for
Measure 27, said the measure is
based on the right for consumers to
know what they’re eating.
“Our interest is from the con
sumer’s point of view,” she said.
“Giving people a choice and making
Turn to Ballot, page 23A
Ballot measures
Measure 14: Removes
historical racial references in
obsolete sections of Oregon
Constitution.
Measure 15: Authorizes state
to issue general obligations
bonds for seismic
rehabilitation of public
education buildings.
Measure 16: Authorizes state
to issue general obligation
bonds for seismic
rehabilitation of emergency
services building.
Measure 17: Reduces
minimum age requirement to
serve as state legislator from
Turn to page 23A
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