WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEASURES 66 & 67
P E T E R * B U C K L E Y - intro by RIMC vol, 12.12.2009 21:42
Peter Buckley, Oregon State Representative District 5, has always reported to his constituents and he keeps an open door to hear the needs and concerns of ordinary people, not just the ones with the big bucks. In this report Peter lays out FACTS about Measures 66 & 67. With a vote coming later in January it is incredible some of the lies coming from the corporate right.
Nearly a million households in Oregon received the "Letter from Leuthold Dairy Farm on M 66-67" and the smell of an underhanded campaign was quickly sniffed out. The Rogue IMC was one of the first in Oregon to quickly call attention to Leuthold Dairy's twisting of the truth with this story: 
http://www.rogueimc.org/en/2009/11/15624.shtml
So check out FACTS about M 66 & 67 with the following report from Rep. Peter Buckley--above introduction provided by a Rogue Indy volunteer
Peter listens @ townhall in Talent, OR
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEASURES 66 & 67
Oregon voters will be making a decision in January on the direction of our state.
THE CHOICE:
--Is between raising the minimum corporate tax rate, which has been $10 since 1931, and making a slight increase on income over $250,000 earned by the wealthiest 2.5% of Oregonians
or
--Cutting vital services in education, health care and public safety for our kids, our communities, our seniors, our disabled, our economy and our state.
--Here are two charts that explain what the measures do:
Measure 66: reduction of income taxes on unemployed Oregonians, increase on top tax level: http://www.ocpp.org/2009/20091102Measure66DecisionTree_fnl.pdf
Measure 67: increase in $10 corporate minimum, establishment of 1/10th of 1% gross receipts tax for companies with Oregon sales of over $500,000: http://www.ocpp.org/2009/20091102Measure67DecisionTree_fnl.pdf
--Here is an open letter signed by dozens of economists statewide explaining why these measures are necessary: http://www.ocpp.org/2009/20091007LetterFromEconomistsFnl.pdf
THE BACKGROUND
--Oregon faces a budget crisis similar in scale to the crisis that has pushed California to the brink, approximately 20% of our general fund/lottery fund budget lost due to the national recession.
--Over 93% of Oregon's budget goes to three areas: education, health care and public safety.
--The Oregon Legislature addressed this crisis with a balanced approach of $2 billion in cuts, aggressive use of reserve funds and federal stimulus dollars, and by modest and targeted revenue increases.
--The cuts made include an over 9% cut to an already stressed K-12 system, and over 10% cuts to the Oregon University System and the Oregon Community Colleges at a time of record student enrollment.
--Cuts were made in all areas of the budget, but every effort was made to minimize the impact in order to keep vital services-including bottom line services such unemployment assistance and food stamps--intact. Public employees have taken reductions in pay and have agreed to furlough days in order to address the crisis while still doing everything possible to provide services.
--The nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office has reported that any additional cuts to state services will directly impact Oregon's economic recovery.
--Nonetheless, the revenue increases the Legislature passed to balance the budget and keep services intact have now been referred to a statewide January 26, 2010 vote by the anti-tax organizations that have traditionally opposed any and all proposals to raise revenue to fund education, health care, public safety and other vital needs.
--The referrals are Measures 66 & 67.
--We need a YES vote.
--If Measures 66 & 67 pass, the signs of economic recovery we are seeing will increase and Oregon's budget, including the vital services it funds, will make it through this current budget cycle and help to get our state to the other side of this recession.
--If they fail, the Legislature will have to reconvene in February of 2010 to cut an additional $1 billion from the budget (the approximately $773 million raised by the revenue packages along with the loss of approximately $250 million in matching federal funds).
--For local school districts, as an example, this would mean an additional cut of approximately $1.4 million for the Ashland School District, $1.5 million for the Phoenix/Talent district, and $6.1 million for the Medford district, above the cuts our districts have already faced this year.
--The measures are targeted and fair. They increase the corporate minimum tax that was set at $10 in 1931, but will still leave Oregon with the fifth lowest corporate tax rate in the country. They set a small increase on personal income taxes on any additional dollars over $250,000 on jointly filed returns. (Every family that earns $250,000 or less will not be impacted, and families that earn more than $250,000 will only see an increase on the income above the quarter million dollar level).
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
--First, go to http://www.voteyesforOregon.org and sign the pledge, letting the campaign know that you are aware of Measures 66 & 67 and plan to support them. This will allow the campaign to take you off the phone and mail list, saving the campaign money and spare you the calls and mailers encouraging your support.
--Sign up on that same webpage to donate time, money or both to the campaign to make sure we win this vote in January.
--Tell your family and friends. Please don't be shy about talking about these measures and the impacts that will happen if the anti-tax organizations get their way. The anti-tax groups are using absolutely inaccurate claims of job losses and negative impacts on businesses if Measures 66 & 67 pass. Please check out the info on these claims at the Yes for Oregon website or at: http://www.ocpp.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?page=nr20091124Debunk
And please feel free to forward on this info, particularly the charts links above that show how the measures actually work and the open letter from the Oregon economists.
Thanks & Onward,
Rep. Peter Buckley
email: 
info@peterbuckley.org
web: http://peterbuckley.org/
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10 dollar regristration fee 16.12.2009 - 17:09 The yearly 10 dollars that all corporations pay now is a yearly regristration fee. The propose 1% tax is a new tax in addition the taxes we all ready pay,employee taxes, income taxes and property taxes. It is right off the top of our gross sales, before expenses. As a small business owner I don't think it is fair for the state government to ask us to give up more as our wages and benefits have already fallen below those of the public sector. This new tax will have to be paid for by the small business owner being force to cut expenses somewhere else,like wages and benefits. Bob>  Homepage:: http://
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