The Siuslaw news., October 24, 2018, WEDNESDAY EDITION, Page 6A, Image 6

6A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
MEASURE 104 from page 1A
Perhaps most controversial
among legislation was Senate
Bill 1528, which passed earlier
this year. The bill disconnect-
ed Oregon from the federal tax
code, disallowing federal tax
breaks to a subset of business-
es, and thus ensured a steady
revenue source of an estimated
$244 million over the next two
years and a total of $1.05 billion
through 2023.
Immediately following her
signing of the bill, Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown returned roughly
$15 million to a segment of very
small businesses known as sole
proprietorships in the form of
lower tax rates — but critics ar-
gued it was too little, too late.
“Bottom line, government
through tricks and schemes has
$230 million in revenue from
small businesses,” said Paul
Rainey, manager of the Yes on
104 campaign. “That’s not fair.”
Rainey believes Measure 104
is needed to keep such legisla-
MEASURE 105 from page 1A
issue of children being separat-
ed from their parents when they
cross the border illegally. Well,
any time somebody breaks the
law and they’re incarcerated,
they’re always separated from
their children.”
Oregon State Rep. and guber-
natorial candidate Knute Bue-
hler supports Measure 105 and
released a statement explaining
that support.
“I see it as way to remove bar-
riers between local and state law
enforcement communicating
and cooperating with federal of-
ficials to keep Oregonians safe.
It’s regrettable that this measure
is even needed,” Buehler said.
“I’m voting for Measure 105.
I’m not campaigning for it, it’s
not something I pushed for to
be on the ballot. But, you know,
there needs to be clarity with re-
gard to our immigration laws.”
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is
firmly opposed to Measure 105.
“I feel very strongly that Ore-
gonians believe in fairness — in
making sure that the statutes
that we have in place that pro-
hibit racial profiling for the last
30 years have been effective,”
Brown said when asked about
her stance in July. “I believe
very strongly, and I know Or-
egonians agree, that folks want
tion from becoming the norm.
“It stops one party from
pushing through controver-
sial tax increases on party line
votes,” he said.
Proponents also feel the su-
permajority rule would encour-
age bipartisanship from a legis-
lature that has already evinced a
degree of cooperation.
“Look at the transportation
package. You had Republicans
and Democrats come together
and find a solution,” said Rainey.
The 2017 package was the
largest transportation fund-
ing bill in Oregon history and
was heralded as a watershed
moment for the Oregon Legis-
lature, not just for its compre-
hensiveness, but its bipartisan
teamwork.
“The Legislature showed that
they’re willing to work togeth-
er,” Rainey said.
Measure 104 has found sig-
nificant backing from the real
estate industry, which is eager
to protect tax deductions on
mortgage interest rates, and
other sectors such as agricul-
ture and small business com-
munities which have watched
with suspicion as legislators
have attempted to impose fees
and eliminate personal proper-
ty tax exemptions.
Critics of these attempts wor-
ry a volatile tax landscape could
be disruptive and even de-
structive for businesses already
struggling with thin margins.
“If they can change the rules
and raise taxes on a simple
majority vote, it’s a risk I don’t
think we can afford,” said Rain-
ey. “There should be account-
ability. And a 60 percent vote is
a higher level of accountability.”
Although supporters of the
bill claim legislators have found
loopholes to circumvent the
system, opponents argue that
loopholes, such as special inter-
est tax breaks, already exist and
that a simple majority vote is an
effective way to close them. Tax
breaks for golf course owners,
heated pools and politicians’
meals and gas are commonly
to make sure that their neigh-
bors are safe and feel includ-
ed in their communities. And
certainly, should folks commit
a crime, they should be held ac-
countable.”
Patrick Starnes, Independent
Party candidate for governor, is
also opposed to Measure 105,
but for different reasons than
Brown.
“I used to be neutral,” Starnes
said. “Then I found out a lot
of the money was from out of
state.”
Starnes went on to mention
his opposition to outside inter-
est groups like the Washington,
D.C., based advocacy group
Federation for American Immi-
gration Reform (FAIR), which
has sent $150,000 to affiliated
groups in Oregon to promote
passage of Measure 105.
Media outlets and the South-
ern Poverty Law Center have
shown that FAIR has financial
ties with white supremacist and
other hate groups.
Social justice advocates are
firmly opposed to the passage
of 105, believing it will reintro-
duce the unjustified targeting of
people of color by law enforce-
ment authorities.
Ramon Ramirez, a leader for
Oregon civil rights, is opposed
to Measure 105, based on his
experiences prior to the passage
of Statute 181a.820, more than
30 years ago.
“Before Oregon had this law,
I saw immigration agents, aid-
ed by local police, busting down
doors and grabbing people off
the street, with no way of know-
ing their immigration status,”
Ramirez said. “My friends and
neighbors, including U.S. cit-
izens, were being harassed by
local police demanding to see
their papers. There was a lot of
fear back then. But this sanctu-
ary law made things a lot better.
“If Measure 105 passes, it
would set Oregon back and I
worry we could see an increase
in profiling across the state.”
The State of Oregon Voters’
pamphlet for the Nov. 6 Gen-
eral Election allows supporters
and those opposed to ballot
measures to provide a statement
detailing the reasons for their
position. These position state-
ments are presented under the
heading of Arguments.
There are six statements pre-
sented that are in support of the
passage of Measure 105. These
statements of support are all
from individuals, not organiza-
tions or affiliated groups, and
three of them are from the rep-
resentatives who introduced the
bill.
The arguments provided for
voters that are opposed to Mea-
pointed to as being protected
by supermajority rules.
“It just makes their job eas-
ier,” said State Sen. Mark Hass
of District 14. “Now they only
have to find 12 votes to kill a bill
that would remove or modify
tax breaks.”
Additionally, Oregon is on
a two-year course to collect
around $1.5 billion from its
thousands of fees on items such
as wastewater permits and over-
night camping in state parks.
Routine updates to these fees are
a feature of collecting that rev-
enue, a process which critics of
the bill say could be stultified by
a minority should Measure 104
pass.
“These are the kind of day-
to-day, practical decisions the
Legislature does all the time,”
Hass said. “And I don’t think
you can govern on a day-to-day
basis by language in the consti-
tution. That’s not what the con-
stitution should be used for.”
The ability to react to these
issues is a feature of flexible
sure 105 consists of 40 letters,
most from groups or profes-
sional associations that are con-
cerned with the negative impact
passage would have on the state.
Groups that oppose Mea-
sure 105 include public health
officials, district attorneys, in-
ternational companies, con-
struction and service industry
leaders, religious communities
and education entities, as well
as the Service Employees Inter-
national Union, the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
the Democratic Party of Ore-
gon, the Oregon Justice Center
and current and former Oregon
sheriffs and mayors.
The reasons for these groups’
opposition to 105 varies from
social justice concerns to the
need for agricultural and con-
struction labor across the state
to the belief that all people,
regardless of their immigra-
tion status, deserve decent
treatment and the opportuni-
ty to lead productive, safe and
fulfilling lives. In all, there are
statements from 170 high pro-
file individuals or public or-
ganizations that have gone on
the record, and taken a strong
stand as being opposed to Mea-
sure 105.
However, just as with every
measure on the ballot, the issue
will be up to Oregon’s voters.
government and many worry
that expanding the role of the
supermajority vote would risk
politicizing basic government
maintenance such as fee up-
dates and targeting waste.
“We’ve seen in the Legislature
in the last 10 years legislators
come in and they don’t vote
for a fee increase at any point,
no matter what,” said Hass. “So
that’s a problem.”
The degree of a state’s flexi-
bility is also a measure of its re-
liability for investors. Superma-
jority states can be unattractive
to capital investors and be seen
as less trustworthy by bond
rating agencies because of the
state’s lack of flexibility to raise
revenue. Lower bond ratings
means higher interest payments
to investors and thus higher
costs for new schools, roads,
hospitals and other bond-relat-
ed projects. For a state experi-
encing a housing crisis, more
expensive bonds that impose
heavier property taxes would be
another log on the fire.
With Democrats needing to
gain just one seat in each house
to achieve a three-fifths majori-
ty, the measure may in any case
be unable to achieve its goals
after Election Day even if it
passes.
Promises it will encourage bi-
partisanship may also be funda-
mentally inconsequential. Al-
though gridlock is written into
the DNA of the U.S. political
system, the Oregon Legislature
enjoys a degree more coopera-
tion than its counterparts.
“We’re a little bit like a Sun-
day school compared to a lot of
state congresses,” said Hass.
Despite the lawmaking body’s
spirit of cooperation, Hass said
the risk of gridlock would be
increased with the passing of
Measure 104.
“It’s not that we don’t argue
and have healthy debate,” he
said, “but there are some lob-
byists who would like to get a
head start and make an easier
go of it by locking this measure
up in the constitution.”
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