Taxpayer Association of Oregon
From Ballotpedia
The Taxpayer Association of Oregon (TAO) was founded by Jason Williams and Don McIntire--Executive Director and President, respectively--in 2000. It serves as a watchdog for Oregon taxpayers, and has various partner organizations and political action committees to assist in various areas, including ballot measures, candidates, education, lobby, and research.
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TAO's Impact
As the official headquarters for government waste in Oregon as sought by legislators, students, taxpayers, radio talk show hosts, activists and journalists, the TAO sponsors a Government Waste Center. The organization distributes thousands of these reports to get these ideas into the bloodstream of Oregon politics.
- Their website, Oregon Watchdog, posts daily updates on the goings-on in Oregon politics and it's so popular that it is ranked at the top of web searches involving "Oregon political news" keywords.
Helping with the issues
The TAO has helped put many issues before the voters by getting involved with great ballot measures. As co-chief petitioner to the tax referendum drive, for example, the TAO helped stop Governor Ted Kulongoski's $1 billion tax increase by referring it to the voters in the form of Measure 30, which was defeated in a resounding victory for taxpayers. For the Multnomah County Tax Repeal petition, the TAO gathered 23,000 signatures in less than two months. They also helped Measure 37 proponents gather their first 5,000 signatures to quality for the ballot.
The TAO lobbies for limited government by stepping in for issues that have no lobby, like supporting initiative rights and privatization efforts, and opposing small fee increases.
Taxpayer Protection Pledge
The TAO recruits candidates to sign the state Taxpayer Protection Pledge and the National Protection Pledge to oppose any new tax increases. Nearly 20 Oregon candidates signed the pledge, and 1300 lawmakers have signed it nationwide.
They train volunteers for poll watching and monitoring ballot processing. It is also the source for filing electioneering complaints against government agencies using taxpayer resources to help candidates and measures.
Volunteering
It produces Oregon's largest voters guide by taking on more races (including often ignored ones like city councils, mayors, and judges) than any other known political organization in the state.
To help voters keep track of their politicians, the TAO produces a voter scorecard.
