Oregon Corporate Activity Tax for Education Funding Referendum (2020)
| Oregon Corporate Activity Tax for Education Funding Referendum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Taxes and Education | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Referendum | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Corporate Activity Tax for Education Funding Referendum did not appear on the ballot in Oregon as a veto referendum on November 3, 2020.
The veto referendum proposed to overturn provisions of House Bill 3427, referred to as the Student Success Act. Specifically, the referendum proposed to overturn the provision which would levy a 0.57% tax (corporate activity tax) on businesses that have more than a million dollars in Oregon sales. Revenue would be used to fund the Fund for Student Success, which would also be created by HB 3427.[1][2]
Another veto referendum was filed which sought to overturn Section 67 of House Bill 3427. Section 67 prohibits cities, counties, or other local political subdivisions from imposing taxes on commercial activities or grocery sales.
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the provisions that this referendum sought to overturn can be read here.
Support
Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Now and Keep Oregon Affordable led the campaign in support of the referendum.[3][4]
Supporters
- On June 12, 2019, lumber company owner Robert Freres Jr., donated $1 million to Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Now, the political action committee supporting the referendum effort.[5][6]
- Oregon Senator Alan Olsen (R-20) said, "The legislation is alarming for a myriad of reasons. Number one, the funds from the gross receipts tax are not dedicated to funding K-12 education by constitutional amendment, meaning the Democratic majority can spend it however they choose. Because it’s a statutory law, it is not guaranteed to education or K-12 programs like the Democrats have promised. Additionally, this tax will absolutely devastate Oregonians with fixed incomes, such as the poor and elderly – the very populations Democrats claim to represent – because consumers are paying for the sales tax every time something is purchased."[7]
Opposition
Our Oregon led the campaign in opposition to the referendum.
Arguments
- On its website, Our Oregon wrote, "Special interests have filed an attempt to send the Student Success Act to the ballot, jeopardizing a historic $2 billion investment in Oregon students. These dedicated investments mean smaller class sizes, more mental health resources, restored art, music, PE, and career training classes, and increased access to early education programs. The Student Success Act also delivers hundreds of millions in personal income tax relief for families across the state... But special interest groups are seeking to send our schools back into a cycle of cuts and layoffs. These special interests don’t speak for Oregon families, the dozens of Oregon businesses that support the Student Success Act, or the students whose education is on the line."[8]
Background
House Bill 3427, the Student Success Act
HB 3427 established the Fund for Student Success and allocated funding to education purposes including the following:[9]
- creating a grant program in the state's Student Investment Account with funds to be spent on increased learning time, decreased class sizes, and improvements to students' education, healthy, and safety;
- expanding access to free meals at school; and
- creating a program for students who have left high school to re-enter and complete high school.
The bill established a 0.57% tax (corporate activity tax) on businesses that have more than a million dollars in Oregon sales and reduced personal income tax rates for the lowest three tax brackets by 0.25%.
House Bill 2164
House Bill 2164 was passed in the legislature on June 30, 2019, and signed into law on July 23, 2019. HB 2164 made modifications and clarifications to the corporate activities tax created in HB 3427. A notable impact of HB 2164 was an exclusion from the corporate activities tax for certain qualifying labor payments made by general contractors.[10]
Referendum sponsor Marie Bowers said that HB 2164 "changed the language enough of the 'Student Success Act' (HB 3427) that our referendum was useless."[11] Backers of the referendum, Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce (OMC), said they would not be moving forward with the referendum effort. In a statement, OMC said, "Because HB 3427, the original gross receipts tax bill, contained several serious flaws, lawmakers were forced to pass a “fix it” bill later in the session. HB 2164 was the vehicle for these fixes and included changes to a portion of HB 3427 that we included in our referral effort. We’ve had our attorneys analyze what HB 2164 means for our referral effort and they concluded we would likely need to refer HB 2164 in addition to HB 3427 in order to achieve our desired outcome, meaning we would need to gather signatures for two referrals at the same time. But here’s the kicker: the referral of HB 2164 would appear on the November 2020 ballot while the referral of HB 3427 would appear on the January 2020 ballot, meaning we would have to run two successful campaigns in the same year to overturn the gross receipts tax."[12]
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Oregon, the number of signatures required to qualify an VR for the ballot is equal to 4 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Signatures must be submitted 90 days after the legislature that passed the targeted bill adjourns.
The requirements to get a veto referendum certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 74,680 valid signatures
- Deadline (2019 bills): September 27, 2019[13]
- Deadline (2020 bills): June 5, 2020
Details about this initiative
- Marie Bowers and Jordan Orht filed this referendum on May 30, 2019.[14]
- On June 12, 2019, the Senate Committee on Rules adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 116 to provide that, if the referendum effort is successful, it will be placed on the ballot to be voted on at a special election on January 21, 2020. The amendment also provides that the legislature would be responsible for writing the measure's ballot title and explanatory statement.[15][16] Measures are usually placed on a November general election ballot and the attorney general typically writes the ballot language.
- On August 19, Marie Bowers and Jordan Orht withdrew the petition.[14]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Oregon State Legislature, "House Bill 3427," accessed May 31, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Veto Referendum #301 full text," accessed May 31, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State; ORESTAR, "Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ Keep Oregon Affordable, "Home," accessed July 24, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "ORESTAR Campaign finance reports," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ OPB, "Timber Baron Gives $1 Million Boost To Campaign To Overturn Tax For Schools," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Live, "Opinion: New gross-receipts tax will hurt Oregon consumers, affordable housing," accessed June 24, 2019
- ↑ Our Oregon, "Don’t let special interests take away $2 billion in school funding," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Legislature, "HB 3427 A STAFF MEASURE SUMMARY," accessed June 25, 2019
- ↑ Oregon State Legislature, "HB 2164 measure analysis," accessed July 24, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Green Blog, "Oregon’s Voter Suppression," accessed July 24, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce, "How lawmakers made referral of the hidden sales tax virtually impossible," accessed July 24, 2019
- ↑ 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session in which the bill was passed
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "2020 Initiative, Referendum, and Referral Search," accessed May 31, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Legislature, "Amendment to SB 116," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Legislature, "Senate Bill 116," accessed June 13, 2019
 |
State of Oregon Salem (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
