NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
BRIEFLY
Poll on tax plan shows voter volatility
By JIM REDDEN
Capital Bureau
A new poll on the corporate sales
tax measure that will appear on the
November ballot indicates that the
proposal is not only controversial, but
also volatile.
The latest poll shows the measure,
known as Initiative Petition 28, being
supported by 65 percent of Oregon
voters. However, a survey by iCitizen,
a non-partisan public involvement
company, also shows that supporters
aren’t ixed in their viewpoint. Among
those surveyed, 29 percent were
“strongly” in favor of the measure,
while 36 percent said they “somewhat”
favored it.
According to the poll of 555 regis-
tered voters, which was conducted
online, the tax is opposed by 19
percent of respondents, with 16 percent
undecided. More than half of the “no”
voters characterize their opposition as
strong.
‘Very luid issue’
The iCitizen poll is one of at least
three recently released polls on the tax
proposal, and its results differ markedly
from previous surveys that showed
weaker support for the measure.
A DHM Research poll done in
May for Oregon Public Broadcasting
and television station KPTV found 51
percent in favor, 32 percent opposed
and 18 percent undecided.
A poll released in June by Salem’s
Action Solutions showed 41 percent
would support IP28, with 23 percent
opposed and 35 percent undecided.
The questions in the three polls
were also different. For example, the
Action Solutions poll asked voters to
respond to a short version of the ballot
title. DHM Research asked voters to
respond to a longer version of the title.
The iCitizen poll paraphrased the title
and summary, and also called it “the
Business Tax Increase Initiative,” a
term that will not appear on the ballot.
Traditionally, support for ballot
measures falls as campaigns get
underway. The iCitizen poll found that
IP28 support drops sharply (partic-
ularly among Republican voters) if
respondents are offered an opposing
argument. Although the tax could
provide needed funding for popular
state programs, support drops to 55
percent if respondents are told oppo-
nents claim the additional tax burden
will hurt businesses in Oregon.
“This is a very luid issue,” says Mark
Keida, iCitizen’s director of research.
He said the language explaining the
measure that will appear on the ballot
is favorable to supporters. But, he
noted, “Support disappears fast if an
opposition argument is mentioned.”
Rebecca Tweed, who is helping
lead opposition to IP28 as campaign
coordinator for Defeat the Tax on
Oregon Sales, found the poll hard to
believe. “This poll is dramatically
inconsistent with other public polling,
including polls the Portland Tribune
has published previously.
“As the nonpartisan Legislative
Revenue Ofice made clear in its IP28
analysis last month, the bulk of this
$6 billion tax on Oregon sales will be
passed on to consumers through higher
prices for groceries, medicine, elec-
tricity, gas, insurance, phone services
— essentials people buy every day. The
more Oregonians learn about IP28, the
less they like it.”
Asked to comment on the new poll,
Katherine Driessen, press secretary for
the IP28 campaign committee, said,
“When you look across the country,
Oregon is dead last in corporate taxes.
Oregon voters know that if we are
going to inally improve our badly
underfunded schools and critical
services, large, out-of-state corpora-
tions are going to have to start paying
their fair share.”
What is IP28?
The initiative has been certiied
for the November election but not
yet been given the measure number
that will appear on voters’ ballots. It
is sponsored by a coalition of labor,
social justice and small business orga-
nizations called Our Oregon. It would
impose a 2.5 percent tax on the sales
of “C” corporations that exceed $25
million a year, generating an estimated
$3 billion a year in additional tax
revenue. The measure says the funds
are to be spent on education, health
care and senior services, although the
Legislature could change that.
Our Oregon is supported largely by
public employee unions, including the
Oregon Education Association.
The measure is opposed by much
of the business community, including
the Portland Business Alliance and the
Westside Economic Alliance. A report
released in May by the Legislative
Revenue Ofice found it would slow
income, employment and population
growth during the next ive years.
Among other things, the report said
IP28 would be equivalent to a $600 per
person tax increase each year.
The Legislative Revenue Ofice also
found that, although only about 1,000
corporations would pay the additional
tax, they account for 88 percent of the
corporate retail trade in Oregon. Utili-
ties such as Portland General Electric
and large grocery and department
stores would be among the entities
required to pay the tax.
The iCitizen poll showed support
for IP28 is strongest among Demo-
crats, men and young voters. Young
voters are the least likely to return their
ballots.
When the opposition argument is
added, support for IP28 drops among
all demographic categories, but espe-
cially among Republicans (from 47
percent to 29 percent).
Pollsters also gauged support for
three other ballot measures headed for
the November ballot. Initiative Petition
68 would prohibit the sale in Oregon
of products made from 12 types of
exotic or endangered animals. Backers
of the measure, known as the Wildlife
Tracking Prevention Act, expect to
submit more than enough signatures
to place the measure on the ballot in
the coming days. The iCitizen survey
found 85 percent of respondents
favored the measure.
Responses to the other two
proposals were far less conclusive. The
poll found that 50 percent of respon-
dents oppose Senate Joint Resolution
4, a legislative referral to remove the
mandatory retirement age for judges in
the state, which is 75. Only 36 percent
support it, while 15 percent are unsure.
Interestingly, older voters were the
most likely to support keeping the
mandatory retirement age.
Initiative Petition 49, which
would restrict the Legislature’s use
of emergency clauses on legislation
has support from 35 percent of voters
polled, but even more (39 percent) are
unsure.
The iCitizen online poll of 555 regis-
tered Oregon voters was conducted
between June 23 and 27. The data were
weighed to U.S. Census benchmarks
for gender, age, region, education,
income, and race. The margin of error
for the full sample was plus or minus
4 percent.
The company conducting the poll,
iCitizen, was founded in 2012 as a
social networking service focused
on civic engagement. It envisioned
a nonpartisan civic engagement app
where people could ind information,
be heard and work together with their
representatives to create an impact in
their communities. The company was
relaunched in January 2016 with a
broader vision to help citizens, repre-
sentatives, candidates, organizations,
schools and companies strengthen their
relationships with their communities
and one another.
The company’s vice president of
state government relations is former
Washington County Republican state
Sen. Bruce Starr. (Starr is a co-sponsor
of the proposed Wildlife Tracking
Prevention Act.) Another Oregon
connection is former state Rep. Derrick
Kitts, who is iCitizen’s vice president
for government relations
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THURSDAY
Partly sunny and
nice
Partly sunny and
pleasant
80° 55°
82° 58°
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Not as warm with a
shower or two
Mostly cloudy, a
shower or two
SUNDAY
Mostly cloudy,
breezy and cool
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
78° 56°
71° 52°
68° 52°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
84° 57°
85° 61°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
77°
86°
107° (2007)
53°
57°
38° (1932)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
Trace
0.05"
6.52"
5.00"
7.66"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
HIGH
LOW
80°
86°
108° (1968)
58°
57°
42° (2012)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.04"
4.64"
3.16"
5.77"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
July 11
July 19
5:13 a.m.
8:47 p.m.
7:52 a.m.
10:15 p.m.
Last
New
July 26
77° 57°
75° 57°
Seattle
73/58
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
83° 59°
Aug 2
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
74/54
81/60
Tacoma
Moses
73/56
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 82/55
73/45
67/56
73/54
85/58
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
74/57
81/60 Lewiston
85/57
Astoria
81/55
68/56
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
77/61
Pendleton 72/45
The Dalles 84/57
80/55
83/61
La Grande
Salem
76/46
80/58
Albany
Corvallis 79/54
81/55
John Day
79/50
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
85/55
83/52
76/45
Caldwell
Burns
83/51
79/44
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
68
75
76
64
79
72
83
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84
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79
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88
63
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85
84
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85
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Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
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56
74
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Thu.
Hi
94
92
86
69
75
66
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87
82
65
88
Lo
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54
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WINDS
Medford
88/57
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
79/45
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Clouds giving way to some
sun today, but sunny to partly cloudy in
the south.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Partly sunny
and beautiful today. Mainly clear tonight.
Partly sunny tomorrow.
Western Washington: Clouds giving way
to some sun today. Increasing amounts of
clouds tonight.
Eastern Washington: A shower near the
Idaho border and in the mountains today;
mostly sunny elsewhere.
Cascades: Partly sunny today. Partly cloudy
tonight. Partly sunny tomorrow.
Northern California: Low clouds followed
by sunshine at the coast today; plenty of
sunshine elsewhere.
Today
Thursday
WSW 4-8
W 6-12
WSW 7-14
W 7-14
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
2
5
7
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Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
94
90
85
68
73
69
71
84
79
63
82
EUGENE (AP) — A
lumber mill west of
Eugene has been on high
alert since learning that
an environmental group
may have put metal spikes
inside some of its logs.
The Register-Guard
reports that some
environmentalists turned
to such tactics during
logging debates in the
1990s. They’d pound
the spikes into live trees,
making them potentially
dangerous for loggers to
cut down.
A group called SAP
claimed on an Earth First!
website that it placed
spikes in logs at the
Swanson Brothers mill on
June 11.
Swanson Brothers
president Larry Konnie
says the mill operated as
usual for two days before
learning about SAP’s
claim. He says no one has
found any spikes.
The editor of Earth
First! Newswire says
the people behind the
website don’t know who is
involved with SAP.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
Hi
65
83
79
64
84
80
75
81
85
87
82
82
78
89
61
65
92
85
82
72
80
72
76
78
71
83
81
Group claims to
have sabotaged
lumber mill’s logs
Corrections
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
Phillips and Oficer
Stephen Anderson went
to Johnson’s room and
took cover in the hallway
when confronted with the
realistic-looking gun.
Prosecutors say
Johnson followed into the
hallway with the weapon
in a shooting position.
Phillips told Johnson to
stop and get on the loor,
and ired when Johnson
continued approaching
him.
Phillips shot Johnson
multiple times. Johnson
was treated at a Spokane
hospital and jailed four
days later on assault
charges.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and
sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in
the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
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Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group
TODAY
SPOKANE, Wash.
(AP) — The Spokane
County Prosecutor’s
Ofice says a Spokane
police oficer was justiied
in shooting a man who
was pointing a BB gun at
him at a motel.
The Spokesman-Review
reports the prosecutor’s
ofice said Tuesday it was
reasonable for Oficer
Shane Phillips to use
deadly force on May 2.
Authorities say Aaron
Johnson had called 911
several times to say a
roommate was threatening
him with weapons.
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PORTLAND (AP)
— The Oregon Court
of Appeals has decided
to reconsider a lawsuit
against the state that was
dismissed in April over
its decision last year to
remove the gray wolf from
the endangered species
list.
The decision Tuesday
means environmentalists
will have another chance
to argue for a judicial
review of the delisting
decision, which they say
was premature. They may
also challenge the validity
of House Bill 4040, the
controversial new law that
prompted the court to toss
the case.
The bill was among the
most controversial issues
this year at the Legislature.
It was crafted to block
the lawsuit by upholding
the delisting decision into
state law and therefore
render moot the request
for judicial review, which
environmentalists say
could be unconstitutional.
State oficials did not
immediately respond for
comment.
Support for three more
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Wolf delisting
lawsuit against
Oregon reinstated
2
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Locally drenching storms will affect the Southeast and Midwest today
with severe weather over the central and northern Plains. Storms will frequent the northern
Rockies with spotty storms farther south.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 111° in Needles, Calif.
Low 30° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
96
88
86
91
79
89
82
90
97
84
90
92
99
93
91
101
64
84
86
96
86
96
93
103
95
77
Lo
67
73
74
73
53
76
57
70
79
71
70
72
79
57
71
77
55
63
75
80
73
75
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79
80
64
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Thur.
Hi
95
92
86
94
82
94
90
82
97
83
86
87
99
88
87
100
69
77
86
97
86
98
94
104
96
79
Lo
66
76
74
74
57
77
62
65
79
71
72
72
80
58
71
76
54
60
74
80
74
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65
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Today
Hi
Louisville
90
Memphis
94
Miami
92
Milwaukee
85
Minneapolis
85
Nashville
90
New Orleans
96
New York City
92
Oklahoma City
98
Omaha
93
Philadelphia
94
Phoenix
107
Portland, ME
86
Providence
93
Raleigh
90
Rapid City
85
Reno
89
Sacramento
86
St. Louis
91
Salt Lake City
90
San Diego
72
San Francisco
67
Seattle
73
Tucson
100
Washington, DC 92
Wichita
101
Lo
75
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80
68
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60
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73
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Thur.
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89
96
92
80
83
94
95
93
98
89
95
107
74
89
92
78
91
83
94
92
72
67
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101
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77
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59
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51
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70
65
55
59
77
77
75
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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