Perhaps it’s time Oregonians reconsider who can and cannot pay to change the state’s Constitution
We encourage you to peruse Street Roots’ November 2018 election edition.
As a nonprofit, we cannot endorse political candidates. But we do offer up the unvarnished opinions of candidates for contested offices important to our readers. We’re happy to bring you the candidates for this year’s exciting City Council race, and at least two of the three candidates for Oregon’s governor. We’re disappointed that Republican Knute Buehler’s campaign did not respond to repeated inquiries, and never returned the questionnaire – a first from a major candidate for office in our election coverage.
On the measures, we endorse, and this year with more urgency than in the past.
Street Roots was asked recently if we saw any new trends emerging this year in terms of the measures put forward. While it’s not necessarily a new trend, this year’s spate of measures show clearly the concerted effort by out-of-state organizations and corporations to control our state’s financial and natural resources.
That’s not hyperbole.
Measures 103, 104 and 105 are all driven by outside companies and organizations. Measure 103 is an effort by mega-grocers to rewrite our state constitution and carve out tax exemptions for their operations.
Measure 104 is another effort by the National Realtors Association, channeling enormous resources through its statewide network to, again, rewrite our constitution to restrict Oregon’s legislative authority over revenue.
And Measure 105, seeking to hand over local law enforcement’s resources to the service of federal immigration policy, is another constitutional rewrite, this one from the Federation for Immigration Reform, a national organization designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The federation and its Oregon offshoot are no stranger to tampering with our laws, pushing numerous anti-immigrant policies over the years.
Perhaps it’s time Oregonians reconsider who can and cannot pay to change the state’s Constitution.
Measure 26-201 would create the Portland Clean Energy Fund to support renewable energy projects and jobs, with a specific mission to support communities of color and those experiencing poverty. It would be funded by a 1 percent tax on retailers with more than $1 billion in revenue in the state and $500,000 in Portland. The opposition is financially fueled by large corporations from out of state, including Walmart, Amazon, U.S. Bank and Comcast.
This is a pay to play world, but this is not how Oregonians should plan for a challenging future.
More importantly, this biennial onslaught is wasting our time. Spending our resources on the defense, backed into corners, diminishes our ability to reach real solutions.
Federal policies around immigration have created a massive human rights tragedy in our own country. Instead of focusing on solutions, we’re having to hold the line against a national hate group pushing white nationalist values in our communities.
Oregon’s state finances are near dire straits, yet corporations are working to ensure that in a state with relatively low corporate taxes, they won’t have to contribute a penny more. This state is riddled with tax breaks and credits for various industries, and corporations are calling for even more.
Climate change demands immediate action and a new way of doing business. And yet “business as usual” has us up against the ropes over new jobs, clean energy, and a 1 percent tax.
All of these efforts ultimately restrict the ability of our own elected representatives to fulfill their fiscal and social responsibilities. We’re simply tying our hands behind our back when we need to come out swinging.
So yes, we do see a trend, one that’s been building for decades in disservice of Oregonians, particularly our most vulnerable neighbors. This is the year to vote for Oregon, not outside interests.
Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots
