Oregonians to vote on banning grocery food taxes

A proposed amendment to the Oregon Constitution that could have an impact on what you pay for groceries has made the November ballot.

It’s called Initiative Petition 37, for now, and calls for a prohibition of any taxes or fees on the sale or distribution of groceries, defining groceries as raw and processed food and beverages.

It would apply to any tax or fee enacted on or after Oct. 1, 2017. Currently, there are no taxes on food items in Oregon.

An opponent of the circulated petition said its stated purpose is actually misleading.

“It is really about the corporations who are funding it, padding the pockets of their CEOs,” Our Oregon spokeswoman Katherine Driessen said Tuesday. “It really has nothing to do with consumers.”

Driessen also said the petition’s definition of groceries is too vague.

“It includes things like meals you might get at a restaurant, but it fails to include the actual necessities that people rely on, like medicine, diapers, feminine hygiene products — really, the essential items that households in Oregon rely on,” she said. “It’s really poorly designed.”

The general manager of Bend’s Newport Market said he supports the measure, because any potential taxes on groceries would be passed onto the consumer.

“The bottom line is, the prices would go up, right? Joe Anzaldo said. “If we get taxed more, the price of the product goes up, the retail goes up, the customer walks in the store and they pay more for the same product because of the tax. I think that’s the obvious part.”

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported grocery companies had poured more than $2 million into the campaign as of a month ago. The Oregon secretary of state’s office announced Monday that supporters had submitted more than 121,000 valid signatures, several thousand more than they needed. The deadline for petition signature submissions is July 6 to qualify for the November ballot.