Oregon Legislative Vote to Tax Corporations for Education Funding Initiative (2018)

Oregon Legislative Vote to Tax Corporations for Education Funding Initiative

Election date
November 6, 2018
Topic
State legislatures measures and taxes
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment| Origin
Citizens

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List of Oregon measuresOregon Measure 102Oregon Measure 103Oregon Measure 104Oregon Measure 105Oregon Measure 106Oregon Measure 101 (January)Submit

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The Oregon Legislative Vote to Tax Corporations for Education Funding Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

The measure would have allowed the Oregon State Legislature to approve taxes on corporations to raise revenue for public education by a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber. The measure would have allowed a simple majority vote on these specific taxes by exempting them from the requirement that all taxes by approved by a three-fifths (60 percent) vote in each legislative chamber.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Text of measure
* 1.1 Constitutional changes
* 2 Path to the ballot
* 3 See also
* 4 External links
* 5 Footnotes

## Text of measure[edit]

### Constitutional changes[edit]

See also: Article VIII, Oregon Constitution

The measure would have amended Section 8 of Article VIII of the Oregon Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added, and ~~stuck-through~~ text would have been deleted:[1]

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

(1)(a) The Legislative Assembly shall appropriate in each biennium a sum of money sufficient to ensure that the state’s system of public education meets quality goals established by law ~~, and~~.

(b) In each biennium, the Legislative Assembly shall publish a report that either demonstrates the appropriation is sufficient, or identifies the reasons for the insufficiency, its extent, and its impact on the ability of the state’s system of public education to meet those goals.

(c) Subsection (1)(b) of this section does not negate or otherwise abridge the Legislative Assembly's duty to appropriate in each biennium a sum of money sufficient to ensure that the state's system of public education meets quality goals established by law as set forth in subsection (1)(a) of this section. Subsection (1)(b) of this section does not limit or otherwise restrict a court's authority to issue a declaration or an injunction requiring the Legislative Assembly to comply with subsection (1)(a) of this section.

(d) For the purpose of complying with the requirements of subsection (1)(a) of this section, the Legislative Assembly may pass bills to raise revenue by taxing corporations. Any bill for raising revenue pursuant to this subsection (1)(d) of this section may be passed by a majority of all the members elected to each House pursuant to subsection 25(1), Article IV of this Constitution. Subsection 25(2), Article IV of this Constitution shall not apply to any bill raising revenue pursuant to this subsection (1)(d).

(2) Consistent with such legal obligation as it may have to maintain substantial equity in state funding, the Legislative Assembly shall establish a system of Equalization Grants to eligible districts for each year in which the voters of such districts approve local option taxes as described in Article XI, section 11 (4)(a)(B) of this Constitution. The amount of such Grants and eligibility criteria shall be determined by the Legislative Assembly.[2]

## Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Oregon

Jennifer Scurlock and Benjamin Gorman filed the proposal with the secretary of state's office on June 2, 2017.[3]

On August 8, 2017, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson (R) said the initiative would not be allowed to circulate because it violated the state constitution's separate-vote requirement for constitutional amendments.[4] Steven Wolf, chief counsel at the state Justice Department, said the initiative included two separate issues.[5]

C. John Larson, president of the Oregon Education Association, said he disagreed with Wolf's conclusion. He stated, "The need to sufficiently fund public education and the mechanisms for doing so are inextricably linked, and so they should be considered together by voters. This ruling will not stop us from pursuing options for the 2018 ballot because our students cannot afford to wait."[4]

Petitioners would have been required to collect 117,578 valid signatures to get their initiated constitutional amendment on the ballot. Signatures for initiatives would have been due four months prior to the election on November 6, 2018, which was July 6, 2018.

## See also[edit]

2018 measures

* 2018 ballot measures
* State legislatures measures on the ballot
* Taxes on the ballot

Oregon

* Oregon ballot measures
* Oregon ballot measure laws

News and analysis

* Ballot measure lawsuits
* Ballot measure readability
* Ballot measure polls

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## External links[edit]

* Initiative 26

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Initiative Petition 26," accessed June 9, 2017
2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
3. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Initiative Petition 26 Overview," accessed June 9, 2017
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Oregonian, "Dennis Richardson tosses teachers union initiative for violating state constitution," August 8, 2017
5. ↑ Willamette Week, "Oregon Department of Justice Rejects Teachers’ Union Ballot Measure," August 8, 2017

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