The nonpartisan Oregon Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) released a report to the House and Senate Revenue Committees highlighting the devastating effects that Initiative Petition 28 (IP28) would have on the Oregon economy.
The report is packed with information illustrating how damaging and costly this proposal would be for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as Oregon consumers. A few of the LRO’s findings include:
- The measure would cost Oregonians more than $6 billion per biennium. It was previously estimated that IP28 would generate about $5 billion. Today’s report estimates the measure would increase taxes in Oregon by more than $6 billion per biennium, by far the largest tax increase in Oregon history.
- The impact on the Oregon economy would be staggering. The report estimates that more than 38,000 private sector jobs would be lost as a result of this measure. The report states, “Our economic simulation shows that if IP28 becomes law it will dampen income, employment and population growth over the next 5 years.”
- The report confirms that IP28 would especially hurt lower-income Oregonians. The LRO report confirms that most of the money raised by IP28, if passed, would come out of the pockets of Oregon consumers, as well as Oregon small and medium-sized businesses, in the form of higher prices for almost everything we buy. “The impact of IP28 on consumer prices means that the marginal impact of the tax will be regressive,” the report states. According to the report, Oregonians hit hardest by the tax would be those earning less than $21,000 a year.
You can read articles by The Register-Guard, The Portland Tribune, and The Oregonian discussing the harmful effects found in the LRO report.
You can view the LRO PowerPoint presentation here.
You can view the LRO report here.
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