Gov. Brown signs health care tax bill; 2018 vote possible

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Democratic governor of Oregon has signed a contentious multimillion-dollar health care tax bill that’s designed to fund Medicaid and fill a big chunk of the state’s budget shortfall.

Gov. Kate Brown signed the bill allowing newly approved taxes on health care providers Monday.

But whether the law goes into effect could still be up in the air, as two House Republicans threaten to at least delay it by calling for a voter referendum on the measure.

Republican Reps. Julie Parrish and Cedric Hayden could file paperwork as early this week and would have until early October to collect the nearly 59,000 signatures needed to put the measure to a vote in November 2018.

House Democrats, in the meantime, are maneuvering to move the vote up to January 2018, should enough signatures be gathered.