The Oregon
tax revolt
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax ...
is a political movement in
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
which advocates for lower taxes. This movement is part of a larger anti-tax movement in the
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
which began with the enactment of
Proposition 13 in California. The tax revolt, carried out in large part by a series of
citizens' initiatives and
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s, has reshaped the debate about
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
es and public services in Oregon.
Major figures
The leaders of the tax revolt include Don McIntire, president of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, and
Bill Sizemore
Bill Sizemore (born June 2, 1951) is an American political activist and writer in Happy Valley, Oregon, United States. Sizemore has never held elected office, but has nonetheless been a major political figure in Oregon since the 1990s. He is consi ...
, leader of
Oregon Taxpayers United. Much of the money spent to promote these anti-tax measures were provided by out-of-state backers including
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to control ...
headed by
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases. A Republican, he is the primary ...
.
National context and the passage of Measure 5
Oregon voters placed limits to
property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
in the
Oregon Constitution
The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. in 1990 with the passage of
Measure 5. A majority of voters were frustrated by the increase in property taxes attributed to rapidly rising property values in the
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
area. Some attribute this home price inflation to an influx of population in the
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
metro, which is surrounded by an
urban growth boundary
An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by, in its simplest form, mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for urban development and the area outside be preserved in its natural ...
that limits the supply of developable land. Others observe that the situation was much more complex, pointing to the loose monetary policy pursued by
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...
, including adjustments to the CPI that measured homeowners equivalent rent instead of actual home price, a recovering economy in the region, and numerous other factors. Measure 5 shifted the burden of
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
funding to the state (which levies an
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
) and away from counties.
Measure 5 also equalized school funding throughout the state, which meant that schools in rural areas benefited while schools in Portland saw budgets reduced.
Measure 47
Measure 47, which attempted to cap the annual rate at which property taxes could rise. This was partly to moderate fast growing house prices in Portland. Measure 47 also instituted Oregon's double majority
A double majority is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. The mechanism is usually used to require strong support for any measure considered to be of great importance. Typically in legislative b ...
rule, in which local tax levies could only pass in minor elections when voter turnout surpassed half of the registered voters. In November 1996, Measure 47 was passed by the Oregon voters 52.3% to 47.7%. Problems with the legal wording of Measure 47 caused the Oregon Legislature
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...
to send Measure 50 to voters in 1997, which clarified Measure 47. During a special election in May 1997, Measure 50 was approved by the voters 55.7% to 44.3%.
Later legislation
The tax revolt manifested itself in a series of budget battles in the Oregon Legislature about school funding, the Oregon Health Plan
The Oregon Health Plan is Oregon's state Medicaid program. It is overseen by the Oregon Health Authority.
History
The Oregon Health Plan was conceived and realized in 1993 by emergency room doctor (and subsequent Oregon governor) John Kitzhabe ...
, and other spending priorities during the late 1990s. Then Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Party ...
and the Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
leadership in the legislature clashed repeatedly over budget priorities.
In 2000, Don McIntire helped place Measure 8 on Oregon's ballot, which would have limited state spending to 15 percent of personal income for the previous biennium. Measure 8 was defeated by a margin of 43.5% to 56.5%. However, in the same election Oregonians enshrined the so-called " kicker check"—a rebate check given to taxpayers in the event that state revenues sufficiently exceed forecasts—into the state constitution with Measure 86 which passed 62% to 38%.
Anti-tax activists defeated two proposals in 2003 and 2004 ( Measure 28 and Measure 30), which were referred to voters by the Oregon State Legislature to increase income taxes temporarily.
Sizemore's group ran into legal problems in 2002. Sizemore sparked the ire of several public employees unions with a series of initiatives aimed at reducing public employee pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
s and reducing their political power. The unions responded with the Voter Education Project
Voter Education Project (VEP) raised and distributed foundation funds to civil rights organizations for voter education and registration work in the southern United States from 1962 to 1992. The project was federally endorsed by the Kennedy adminis ...
, which tracked signature gatherers hired by Sizemore to place measures on the ballot. After documenting instances of fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
by signature gatherers, the Oregon Education Association
The Oregon Education Association (OEA) is the largest public education employees' union in the U.S. state of Oregon, representing 44,000 teachers and classified personnel. It has local affiliates in each of the state's 199 public school districts, ...
, a teachers' union, successfully sued Sizemore's organization under racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
laws in 2003. The $2.3 million judgment against Oregon Taxpayer's United severely hurt Sizemore's ability to put measures on the ballot. The fraud allegations also led to the passage of Measure 26 in 2002, which prohibits the payment of signature gatherers on a per-signature basis, and was approved by voters 75% to 25%.
Tax activists generally claim that Oregon's government is wasteful and inefficient, arguing that the government could do better with less. They often highlight programs that they feel are unnecessary. Opponents of the tax revolt argue that passing tax decreases via ballot measure leads to short-sighted policy making, in which voters are enticed to vote with the revolt by lower tax bills and without thinking about the budget problems caused by reduced revenues.
Notable figures in the Oregon tax revolt
* Bill Sizemore
Bill Sizemore (born June 2, 1951) is an American political activist and writer in Happy Valley, Oregon, United States. Sizemore has never held elected office, but has nonetheless been a major political figure in Oregon since the 1990s. He is consi ...
* Loren Parks
Loren Parks (born 1926) is a businessman from the U.S. state of Nevada. He previously lived in Oregon (from 1957–2002), and is the biggest political contributor in the history of that state. He has financed numerous ballot measure initiative p ...
Timeline of ballot measures
* Measure 5 (1990)
* Measure 47 (1996) (initiative), Measure 50 (1997) (legislative referral)
* Measure 8 (2000) (failed)
* Measure 86 (2000) (kicker)
* Measure 28 (2003) and Measure 30 (2004) (tax increase measures, defeated)
* Measure 41 (2006) and Measure 48 (2006) (both failed)
* Measure 59 (2008) (failed)
* Measures 66 and 67 (2010) (tax increase referendums, passed)
See also
*List of Oregon ballot measures
The list of Oregon ballot measures lists all statewide ballot measures to the present.
In Oregon, the initiative and referendum process dates back to 1902, when the efforts of the Direct Legislation League prompted amending the Oregon Constitut ...
References
External links
Embattled anti-tax advocate Bill Sizemore under fire again
Taxpayer Association of Oregon
* Oregon Territory program on the tax revol
Part 1Part 2
m3u
M3U (''MP3 URL'' or Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3 Uniform Resource Locator in full) is a computer file format for a multimedia playlist. One common use of the M3U file format is creating a single-entry playlist file pointing to a st ...
audio stream)
Fund Oregon's Future Today
''Will anti-tax initiatives sweep the states this fall?'' from October 1994 Reason magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Tax Revolt
History of Oregon
Politics of Oregon
Taxation in Oregon