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State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 21, 2017 A9 Kitzhaber, Hayes will not be charged By Claire Withycombe, Paris Achen and Nick Budnick Capital Bureau Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber or his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, will not face criminal charges following a two-year investigation into allegations they used their positions for profit, federal officials announced Friday. A statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon indicated federal officials would not comment further on reasons for the decision. “Today, the U.S. attorney concluded the investigation that began shortly after I was elected to a fourth term as Or- egon’s governor, coming to the same conclusion I start- ed with over two years ago: there was nothing nothing to pursue,” Kitzhaber wrote on his Facebook page Fri- day. “As I have said from the beginning, I did not resign because I was guilty of any wrongdoing but rather be- cause the me- dia frenzy around these questions kept me from being the ef- fective leader John I wanted and Kitzhaber needed to be.” Hayes did not immediately return mes- sages seeking comment Fri- day. Kitzhaber and Hayes had been under investigation for more than two years after Willamette Week reported the first lady may have used her position to win several con- sulting contracts. State law prohibits public officials such as the first lady from using their position or public resources for private benefit. Willamette Week report- ed that Hayes gave input on shaping policies while accept- ing payments from private ad- vocacy groups that wanted to influence those policies. She also used her title of first lady when she appeared as a paid consultant, the alt-weekly newspaper reported. The scandal eventually prompted Kitzhaber’s resig- nation in February 2015. Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, who challenged Kitzhaber in 2014, respond- ed Friday that the U.S. At- torney’s decision “does not change the fact that the gov- ernor and Cylvia Hayes ac- cepted money from those de- siring to purchase influence.” “It is unfortunate that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding influence peddling by former Virginia Governor Robert McDon- nell and his wife has set the bar so high that it is now nearly impossible to bring federal charges in political corruption cases,” Richard- son wrote in a statement. “It is clear that Oregon and the nation still have a long way to go to restore trust in gov- ernment.” Former Republican Gov. Robert McDonnell and his wife accepted more than $175,000 in gifts from a Vir- ginia businessman with politi- cal interests. They were found guilty of federal corruption charges and sentenced to prison, but won their appeal to the Supreme Court, which found in September that pros- ecutors’ definition of “official act” was too broad. Oregon Department of Justice officials announced in mid-February that they had halted their investigation of the allegations because the federal investigation had tak- en longer than anticipated, and the statute of limitations was expiring. “Our understanding was that the federal investigation would be concluded in suffi- cient time to allow our office to review findings from the investigation and determine whether state charges were warranted,” Michael Slau- son, chief counsel for the Oregon Department of Jus- tice, wrote in a letter to Billy Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. The Oregon Ethics Com- mission had initiated an in- vestigation into misconduct by Kitzhaber and Hayes, but that investigation was stayed during the state and feder- al probes, said commission Chairman Dan Golden. He said the commission would review available infor- mation and consider whether there are grounds for further action. Ronald Bersin, executive director of the Oregon Gov- ernment Ethics Commission, was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon. Well-wishers posted Face- book messages on the former governor’s public page Fri- day. “Congratulations, John and Cylvia! The decision took far too long but happily this unfortunate chapter is fi- nally closed. Best wishes for both of you in the future,” wrote Chris Dearth, a former Kitzhaber staffer. Both Hayes and Kitzhaber began to re-emerge publicly over the past year. The former governor spoke mostly on health care topics — a post March 12 touted his invitations to speak at “health care summits” across the West Coast. He was also critical of efforts in Congress to dis- mantle the Affordable Care Act. Kitzhaber, in a post on his Facebook page, thanks his supporters for standing by him through the ordeal. He said he would continue to “help Oregon deal with the challenges we face in a way that moves us beyond the cur- rent division and polarization and brings us back together as a community.” Hayes recently updated her website, which is focused on public speaking, writing, and a coaching business tai- lored toward “resiliency.” A spokesman for Gov. Kate Brown, who succeeded Kitzhaber when he resigned in 2015, declined to comment Friday. Corporate taxation bill could test constitutional case law By Paris Achen Capital Bureau A bill passed in the House of Representatives Monday to change the way corpora- tions are taxed for services could serve as a test for new case law on what constitutes a new tax. Senate Bill 28 would tax national corporations on the percentage of their services they sell in Oregon instead of the existing “all-or-nothing” system of taxing only national corporations who perform the bulk of their business in the state. The change would yield about $5.5 million in the next two years and $11.1 million the two subsequent years, ac- cording to an estimate by the Legislative Revenue Office. Corporations already are taxed on the proportion of tangible items they sell in Oregon, but taxes on sales of services or intangibles are only levied on corporations where a majority of their services are performed in Oregon. “The Senate Bill 28 would move away from that and to- ward a market-based policy that mirrors that for tangible products and is more in line with the policy intent of a sin- gle sales factor,” said Chris Allanach, senior economist with the Legislative Revenue Office, during a hearing on the bill last month. In the past, Legislative Counsel would have consid- ered the bill to be a new tax or a “revenue-raising” proposal. Under the Oregon Constitu- tion, a revenue-raising propos- al requires a three-fifths ma- jority vote in both legislative chambers, and the measure must originate in the House. An Oregon Supreme Court decision in 2015 changed Leg- islative Counsel’s interpreta- tion of what qualities define a revenue-raising measure. The court ruled in City of Seattle v. Department of Rev- enue that a bill to remove a tax exemption for out-of-state utility companies did not need a three-fifths majority because it didn’t have the “essential features” of levying a tax. Hence, Legislative Coun- sel now considers reve- nue-raising proposals to mean only measures that would change a tax rate. A change to the tax base alone needs only a simple majority vote, Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson told lawmakers on the House Interim Committee on Revenue last year. The Senate Bill 28 passed the House and Senate without a three-fifths majority. The vote in the House Monday was 34-to-23. The bill was ap- proved in the Senate 17-to-13. If signed by the governor, the bill could face a legal challenge, said House and Senate Republicans Monday. The bill’s passage fails to meet the requirements of the constitution for a measure that raises revenue, said House Minority Leader, Mike Mc- Lane, R-Powell Butte. “I swore an oath to uphold the Oregon Constitution, even when it might be inconve- nient. I am not willing to risk violating that oath by support- ing this bill,” McLane said Monday. Senate Republican spokes- man Jonathan Lockwood ac- cused legislative Democrats of “trampling on the consti- tution.” “Oregonians can’t afford any more tax increases, and a lot of this is hidden,” Lock- wood said. “These pile up before they hit the consumer,” he added. House Democrats who passed the bill Monday didn’t issue a formal response to Republicans’ assertions. Scott Moore, a spokes- man for House Democrats, referred to the Oregon Su- preme Court ruling. “I kind of think the legal argument speaks for itself,” Moore said. Debbie Ausmus 245 South Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845 OPEN WED. & THUR. 9 am - 5 pm 541-575-1113 24 hrs/7 days wk A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY debbie.ausmus@ countryfinancial.com V ETERANS : 05745 Did you know a service-connected disabled veteran is entitled to FREE use of Oregon State Parks? See your Grant County Veteran Services Officer today for more information, located at Grant County Courthouse. Jeff Wilcox 09573 Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available Let our family of Pharmacists serve you! The Class of 2017 GU would like to extend a big thank you to the businesses who donated gifts & items that made our Grad Night such a huge success! Without the support of our community this night wouldn’t be possible. 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