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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 Citizens panel endorses corporate sales tax measure Findings will be published in voters’ guide By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau A citizens’ panel that reviews Oregon ballot initia- tives for the voters’ pamphlet has endorsed a controversial corporate sales tax measure on the November ballot. Measure 97 would levy a 2.5 percent tax on certain corporations’ Oregon sales exceeding $25 million. The Citizens Initiative Review Commission heard from both sides of the measure before voting 11-to-9 on Sun- day to endorse the measure. Key indings will be published in the state voters’ guide. The tax would raise an esti- mated $6 billion every two years in additional revenue at a time when the state faces an estimated $1.4 billion shortfall to maintain existing services. Supporters cited the short- fall and a study by Ernst & Young ranking Oregon 50th in the lowest rate of corpo- rate taxation as reasons for the endorsement. “We are currently in a cri- sis of underfunded public edu- cation, healthcare and senior services,” the supporters wrote in a statement. “The passage of Measure 97 would quickly ix this.” Commissioners who voted against the endorsement cited a study by the Legislative Rev- enue Ofice that shows the tax would hike up the prices of daily items such as food and fuel for the typical family by $600 a year. That study also showed job growth would slow sig- niicantly in the private sec- tor while boosting public sec- tor jobs. “A regressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from low income earners cre- ating an unnecessary bur- den on many Oregon fami- nonproit backing the mea- sure. “Oregon ranks 50th in the country in corporate taxes, leaving our schools and critical services badly underfunded.” The campaign against the measure said panelists ignored research that showed consum- ers would bear most of the bur- den from the tax. “We disagree with the con- clusions of the panelists who voted to support Measure 97 despite the fact that most of the $6 billion measure will be paid by Oregon consumers through higher prices for the services and goods they buy every day — clothing, gro- ceries, electricity, medicine, insurance, even medical care,” lies,” commissioners wrote in a statement of opposition. Another victory The endorsement marks another victory for the union- backed campaign for Mea- sure 97. Earlier this month, the measure won an endorse- ment from Gov. Kate Brown. Another research commit- tee recommended last week that the City Club of Portland endorse the measure. “It’s clear that when Orego- nians get the facts about Mea- sure 97, they agree it’s time to hold large and out-of-state cor- porations accountable,” said Katherine Driessen, a spokes- woman for Our Oregon, the said Rebecca Tweed, Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales cam- paign coordinator. Healthy Democracy Lawmakers approved the Citizens Initiative Review Commission in 2011 based on a concept developed by Health Democracy Oregon. The cre- ation of the commission “marked the irst time a legis- lature has made voter deliber- ation a formalized part of the election process,” according to the Healthy Democracy Ore- gon website. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Oregon counts a pot of money Trafic fatalities surged in irst half of this year State collects $25.5 million in marijuana taxes By JOAN LOWY Associated Press Associated Press SALEM — Oregon has processed $25.5 million in tax payments from recre- ational marijuana from Janu- ary through the end of July. The state’s Department of Revenue says medical mar- ijuana dispensaries were required to ile their sec- ond-quarter returns for recre- ational marijuana by Aug. 1. Oregonians legalized rec- reational marijuana in late 2014. But it can only be sold by medical marijuana dispensa- ries until the Oregon Liquor Control Commission inal- izes rules for the new industry. That’s expected to happen by next year. Medical marijuana dispen- saries started collecting a 25 percent tax on their recreational marijuana sales in January. Anticipated state revenue from recreational marijuana through June 2017 was recently qua- drupled by Oregon’s Legisla- tive Revenue Ofice. AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus Marijuana plants await judging at a competition to select nine specimens for display at the Oregon State Fair in Salem. The exhibit of live marijuana plants will run from Friday to Sept. 5 and will mark the first time real pot plants have been open for public viewing at the annual agricul- tural showcase. Oregonians voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2014. The expected amount rose from $8.4 million to $35 million. Recreational marijuana is illegal in 46 states and under federal law. WASHINGTON — Traf- ic fatalities were up 9 percent in the irst six months of this year compared with the same period last year, continuing a surge in deaths that began two years ago as the economy improved and travel picked up, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday by the National Safety Council. An estimated 19,100 peo- ple were killed on U.S. roads from January through June, said the council, a congressio- nally chartered nonproit that gets its data from state author- ities. That’s 18 percent more than two years ago at the six- month mark. About 2.2 mil- lion people also were seri- ously injured in the irst half of this year. The council estimates the cost of these deaths and inju- ries at about $205 billion. At that rate, annual deaths could exceed 40,000 fatali- ties this year for the irst time in nine years, the council said. More than 35,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, making it the deadliest driving year since 2008, when more than 37,000 were killed. “Our complacency is kill- ing us,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, the safety council’s president and CEO. “Ameri- cans should demand change to prioritize safety actions and protect ourselves from one of the leading causes of prevent- able death.” U.S. drivers have also put in a record 1.58 trillion miles on the road in the irst half of this year, a 3.3 percent increase over the same period in 2015, the Federal Highway Administration said this week. States with the biggest increases since the upward trend began in late 2014 include Vermont, up 82 per- cent; Oregon, 70 percent; New Hampshire, 61 percent; Idaho, 46 percent; Florida, 43 percent; Iowa, 37 percent; Georgia, 34 percent; Indi- ana, 33 percent; California, 31 percent and Wisconsin, 29 percent. Saturday August 27 W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Astoria Fire Open House 555 30th Street 11-4pm Food, Fun, Firefighters! Free hot dogs, chips, coffee and soda compliments of the members of the IAFF Local 696 Fire safety and tsunami/disaster information available All AFD Apparatus will be on display SPARKY and SMOKEY will be on hand! Jr. Firefighter Challenge Course www.facebook.com/astoria696 E N L N E T R O L’S K L E C E SUNSET EMPIRE TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS NOTICE OF BOARD MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING TO RECEIVE INPUT ON THE LONG RANGE COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN AUGUST 25 TH 9 AM A STORIA T RANSIT C ENTER C ONFERENCE R OOM 900 M ARINE D RIVE | A STORIA A copy of the SETD Long Range Comprehensive Transportation Plan is available at the Astoria Transit Center or the Seaside Transit Kiosk and may be viewed on the SETD website at www.ridethebus.org. For more information please call 503-861-7433 #1 Sunset Empire Transportation District operates its programs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age or disabiity in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, ORS Chapter 659A or other applicable law. Alternative formats of this information is available upon request. Please contact Mary Parker at 503-861-5370 or mary@ridethebus.org. NIC Seaside Radio Shack S GOING OUT OF BUSINESS LIQUIDATION SALE! % 50 OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE! AUGUST 22 ND THRU 27 TH 1219 S. Roosevelt Dr., Seaside, OR 503-738-8836
