Oregon voters passed Propositions 66 and 67 yesterday which support Governor Kulongowski’s budget proposal. The following link will give you detail on the propositions, the vote, the key donors to each campaign and the groups advocating pro and con. Oregon is a high income tax state and ranks high among the states with large budget deficits and high unemployment. (See state’s post, and stress rankings chart) This is from Ballotpedia:
On July 20, 2009 Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed two tax bills that will increase taxes in the state by $733 million through increasing the state’s corporate minimum tax, raising taxes on the state’s high-income individuals and raising income taxes on businesses.[1] In reaction to the news, several Oregon citizen and business groups geared up to use the veto referendum process in the state to try to stop the hikes.[2][3]
On October 8, 2009, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office announced that both ballot measures had qualified for the ballot. According to Don Hamilton, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, supporters of the measures turned in substantially more than the 55,000 signatures needed to qualify each measure for the ballot. According to Hamilton: “They filed more than twice as many [signatures]. It’s unusually high for a statewide ballot measure.”[4]
