By Lynne Terry/Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon voters have rejected Measure 118, which would increase corporate taxes and give all residents a yearly rebate.
Late Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s Office showed that a whopping 79% of voters opposed the measure while 21% voted in favor.
One of two statewide citizen initiatives on the ballot, Measure 118 would add an extra 3% tax on most businesses on sales over $25 million a year. Those proceeds would then be distributed to every resident, regardless of their age or situation, provided they lived in Oregon for at least 200 days in the applicable year.
Shortly after 9 p.m., the campaign released a statement saying it was disappointed, but not particularly surprised, in the results.
“Oftentimes, Goliath beats David,” the statement said. “In this case, the opposition to Measure 118 raised over $16 million to defeat it — more than 26 times what we raised. One thing is quite clear: If they didn’t believe Measure 118 could pass, they would not have burned through millions of dollars to fight it.”
The measure is the most controversial on the ballot and united an unusual coalition of political opponents and executives against it, including Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, about 50 lawmakers from both parties, labor unions and more than 200 companies and business groups. Opponents, led by the Oregon Business & Industry lobby group, raised $19.4 million and flooded the airwaves with TV ads, saying the measure would amount to a sales tax and cost consumers money. The idea is that corporations would raise prices to pay the tax and then raise consumer prices to pay for it.
“The size and diversity of our coalition show just how flawed Measure 118 was,” said Angela Wilhelms, chair of the campaign opposing Measure 118 and president and CEO of Oregon Business & Industry. “But defeating even flawed ballot measures requires a huge amount of work and financial support. The many businesses and organizations that helped spread the message deserve a great deal of credit. So do the elected leaders who joined our coalition early.”
Supporters included the Oregon Progressive Party, the Pacific Green Party, Teamsters Local 206 and a few other groups, along with Californians who support adopting a universal basic income that would give everyone a guaranteed amount of income every year, regardless of need: Josh Jones, a Los Angeles investor; the family and foundation of the late Gerald Huff, a California software engineer; and Dylan Hirsch-Shell, a former Tesla engineer and current candidate for mayor of San Francisco, who donated $100,000 to the campaign.
Supporters said it would mark the start of a basic universal income – though the rebate would be far from that. It could range from $1,000 to 1,300 in 2026 and increase to $1,600 per person in 2027, according to a state analysis. The analysis also found that the program would reduce total personal income taxes by 33%, including reducing or eliminating personal income taxes for filers who earn less than $40,000 a year.
This story first appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
