What’s the true impact of Ballot Measure 97 on corporations and working families in Oregon? Is this the correct way to invest in education, healthcare and social services? Will the measure achieve what it is intended to achieve or will those dollars be diverted for other projects? Those were just a few of the questions posed during the debate sponsored by Oregon Health Forum.
Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, was adamant about passing this measure which would increase the minimum corporate tax by establishing a 2.5 percent tax on corporate gross sales that exceed $25 million. “I want an Oregon where my kids and your kids are not one medical emergency away from a lifetime of financial ruin.”
But Sandra McDonough, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance, wasted no time tearing down his argument. “Measure 97 is going to hurt working families” because “the measure will cost the average four member family $600 a year in hidden taxes” she argued.
Look at who’s funding the opposition, asked Felisa Hagins, Political Director of SEIU Local 49. “The opponents of this campaign are being funded by Wells Fargo, Comcast, Shell Oil and big industry. It’s a handful of large multi-national corporations giving a lot of money to make sure this measure doesn’t pass. And so, if they were going to pass on the taxes, why would they do that”
Who truly bears the cost of Measure 97? “The Legislative Revenue Office says this measure will act largely as a consumption tax. With as much as 2/3 of it being passed to the consumers in the form of higher prices for food, gasoline, insurance, medicine, electricity, natural gas and much more,” McDonough said.
Anticipating her argument, Nosse made the case that there is “no correlation between corporate taxes and prices” and that “prices are based on competition, not taxes”.
Dr. Colin Cave, a head and neck surgeon and former president of the Oregon Medical Association said independent medical groups are threatened by this tax. “Under Measure 97, The Oregon Clinic will see new taxes of $4 million on January 1st and The Portland Clinic will not. The only reason for this difference is because of how they chose to incorporate many, many years ago. This is simply unfair.”
The panelists disagreed on which corporations would pay the tax. “We know that Measure 97 establishes a tax that would only be paid by large out of state corporations with more than $25 million in sales. We know what the money would be dedicated for,” said Nosse.
But McDonough countered his argument, “Some of Oregon’s most iconic companies are hit hard by this tax. Powell’s Books, Umpqua Ice Cream, Lithia Motors, Local Farm Supplies. Every business will be hit. Either directly or indirectly. There is absolutely no guarantee on how this money is going to be spent.”
If Measure 97 doesn’t pass, Oregon lacks the resources to protect its crumbling mental health system, said Hagins. But the tax could have a regressive impact on healthcare, responded Cave who cited the Legislative Revenue Office saying, “Because of how it is written, it results in nearly $100 million a year in higher healthcare costs in Oregon. The ultimate outcome is that Measure 97 hurts my patients, both in regard to their pocketbooks and their access to healthcare.”
But Hagins made a plea that, “We’ve never had a solution that can do what we need to do for our schools, our healthcare system and our senior services to make a difference. After 30 years of trying, we’ve decided to have the greatest, biggest, boldest attempt to make that difference.”
Questions about the measure focused on how the ballot measure would impact the affordability of health insurance.
“There are a couple of initiatives in the legislature that we’re gonna be asked to consider in the 2017 session,” Nosse said. “They have various nicknames, like ‘Cover All Kids’, and the ideas is that everybody that’s left in the State of Oregon that’s not covered either by the Oregon Health Plan or a plan on the exchange would be able to use the resources that the measure raised to finally provide a health insurance plan….to get us to pretty much universal coverage in the state.”
“Unfortunately, this measure has no backbone and no teeth and nothing that says ‘the money will’,” Cave responded. “This goes to the General Fund. This Legislature today may be different than the Legislature tomorrow, but this tax is forever. I have no idea what it’s going to look like tomorrow or the next day.”
Patrick can be reached at [email protected].
