Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523, December 11, 2002
Page 13
Measure 28 will likely cost
tax payers one way or other
By Medford Mail Tribune
Despite the likely failure
of Measure 28 in January,
Oregon legislators say that
there is little that can be done
to pull the plug on a special
election that will cost the
cash-strapped state $1.5 mil-
lion.
Senate Minority Leader
Kate Brown (D-Portland) said
that the Legislature doesn’t
have the political will to take
the income tax measure off
the ballot, even though recent
polls have shown voters
would defeat it. Measure 28
would increase taxes tempo-
rarily to help offset a state
budget shortfall, raising $312
million in the current budget
and $412 million in the 2002-
04 biennium budget.
If the measure fails, the
state will have to cut $450
million to schools, human ser-
vices and public safety in the
current budget.
"It may be an exercise in
futility, but there is not the
support in the new Legislature
to take it off the ballot," she
said. "There is a group of leg-
islators who want to keep it on
the ballot and then do an ‘I
told you so.’ "
These legislators, in Re-
publican and Democratic
camps, want to set an example
by showing the fruitlessness
of trying to raise taxes during
a recession, she said. Measure
28’s defeat would reveal to
voters how grave the budget
cutbacks will be, she said.
"When 130 Oregon State
Police officers are laid off and
two weeks of school are short-
ened, it will become readily
apparent to people," she said.
Sen. Lenn Hannon said
that the Jan. 28 election will
be a total waste of money.
"It’s going to go down by a
pretty substantial margin," he
predicted.
The Ashland Republican
said he would like to take it
off the ballot, but that he does-
n’t think that idea would get
enough legislative support.
"We have a lot of weak-
kneed sissies up here who
don’t have the courage to re-
move it," he said. "Why con-
tinue to jab the voters in the
eye with a stick?"
Rep. Alan Bates said that
he would support withdrawing
the measure from the ballot if
he were certain that voters
would reject it.
"I think its chances of
passing are low, if not zero,"
said the Ashland Democrat.
Bates said he will await
the results of an Oregon Edu-
cation Association poll before
he would consider canceling
the election.
"If we do that and there is
no chance of its passage, then
there is no purpose in running
an election," he said. How-
ever, naysayers have been
wrong in the past, he cau-
tioned.
Other legislators predicted
Measure 19, which shifted
state funds to give education
more money, also wouldn’t
pass in September, but 61 per-
cent of voters approved it, he
said. He is hesitant to with-
draw the measure from the
ballot because of the financial
impact to Oregon’s schools,
health services and public
safety.
Despite some voter apathy
after a litany of budget cuts,
Bates said, "It’s amazing that
you can cut a budget 20 per-
cent and not see horrific
changes. For the average
voter, it’s not right in your
face."
Rep. Rob Patridge blamed
the Democrats and outgoing
Gov. John Kitzhaber for forc-
ing Measure 28 onto the vot-
ers during a series of special
sessions that looked for ways
to plug the state’s shortfall.
While Patridge doesn’t think
Measure 28 is likely to pass,
he said there may be legal and
constitutional problems in
dropping it from the ballot at
this point.
As to the cost of the elec-
tion, Patridge said, "$1.5 mil-
lion is a drop in the bucket.
That’s a minor issue. The ma-
jor issue is we need govern-
ment accountability. We need
to win back some confidence
in the government."
The Medford Republican
doesn’t believe the new Legis-
lature will find some magical
way of dealing with the
budget dilemma Measure 28’s
defeat will wreak on Oregon
schools and other agencies.
"I think there’s a pretty
deep hole," he said. "I think
the low-hanging fruit has been
picked."
In the meantime, it will be
another problem for the new
Legislature and new governor
to deal with, said Patridge.
"It puts a lodestone
around Ted Kulongoski’s
neck," he said.
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