Oregon Senate OKs school funding tax as GOP returns
(Update: Oregon Senate passes business tax for school funding as Republicans end walkout; reactions, opponents looking at path to ballot)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Senate on Monday afternoon approved a multibillion dollar education tax designed to boost student performance and decrease class sizes.
The chamber passed House Bill 3427 by an 18-11 vote after minority Republicans ended a nearly week-long walkout to protest the proposal and what they call Democrats’ unwillingness to consider GOP proposals. The measure previously passed the House and now heads to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature.
It would raise $1 billion per year through a half a percent tax on Oregon’s wealthiest businesses.
The package calls for a .057% tax on gross receipts for businesses with $1 million or more in sales, which make up less than 10% of all businesses in the state.
The Senate Republicans returned to vote on the measure after Democrats agreed to drop a controversial vaccine proposal, among other possible concessions.
Three Republicans appeared on the Senate floor Monday, giving the chamber enough members to conduct business.
Rep. Cheri Helt, the Republican from Bend who sponsored the vaccine measure, said Monday that the deal is a win for “the loudest, most extreme voices in our politics.”
The bill responds to a measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest that sickened more than 70 people. The outbreak was recently declared over but the national measles count has hit its highest in decades.
The proposal would have ended families’ ability to opt-out of school vaccination requirements for personal, philosophical or religious reasons.
Willamette Week quoted sources as saying Senate Democrats had reached a deal with Senate Republicans to end the nearly week-long walkout. They also said Democrats reportedly agreed to also kill Senate Bill 978, which strengthens gun laws.
STATEMENT FROM REP. CHERI HELT ON SENATE DEAL TO KILL HB 3063
Salem, Ore – “This bill was about saving lives, protecting children and ensuring our shared immunity from dangerous and preventable diseases. It’s disappointing that once again the loudest, most extreme voices in our politics prevailed and the sensible-center and thoughtful policy-making lost,” said Cheri Helt (R-Bend), a chief sponsor of HB 3063.
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News release from Oregon Senate Democrats:
Oregon writes a new chapter for its students with Student Success Act HB 3427: Invests in school programs, counseling, educational improvement SALEM – Senate Democrats are turning the page on the state’s track record of low graduation rates and writing a new chapter where all of Oregon’s students can succeed.
The Student Success Act – House Bill 3427 – passed today in the Oregon Senate, and now will go to Governor Kate Brown for her signature. The landmark legislation is designed to counter years of disinvestment in public education dating back to passage of Ballot Measure 5 and Ballot Measure 50 in the 1990s.
“This is the culmination of 16 months of work, beginning with traveling across the state to hear what students, teachers, administrators, business leaders and community members have identified as educational priorities,” said Sen. Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), who co-chaired the Joint Committee on Student Success, which authored this legislation. “We listened to people and, based on those conversations, we developed a plan of action. This is a targeted investment in our schools and our kids that this state has never seen before. Every dollar that we collect will go into the classroom, and we have written that into the legislation. The bill requires that all funding goes to hiring teachers and staff and purchasing supplies to serve our students; not for covering PERS liabilities or any other costs.”
The bill includes a transformational plan to provide students and schools with the resources they need to be successful, as well as training to help teachers better serve students. It also includes a dedicated funding package to pay for those elements.
“This is the most significant and historic education bill I have been involved in,” said Sen. Mark Hass (D-Beaverton), who headed the Student Success SubCommittee on Revenue. “It will set Oregon on a new path of longer school years and smaller class sizes and will help students to reach their highest potential.”
Elements of the bill include fulfilling needs that have been identified universally across the state. These include career and technical education, school counseling, longer school years and days, mental health services and making certain that all student populations have access to the resources they need. It also includes opportunities for individual school districts to develop programming that is tailored to their communities’ unique needs. An accountability component in the bill requires regular legislative reports and audits to ensure the money is being invested effectively and state taxpayers are realizing a return on that investment.
“We cannot do enough when it comes to helping our state’s students succeed, and we need to provide the wrap-around mental health and academic supports to ensure today’s young people become healthy and successful adults,” Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D-Milwaukie) said. “This bill provides those supports, as well as strong accountability measures to make sure we are getting the most on these crucial investments.”
Funding will come from a Corporate Activities Tax that will affect only Oregon’s largest businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million in annual taxable commercial activity will not pay a single penny. For businesses that would be affected, House Bill 3427 sets a $250 flat tax on the first million in taxable commercial activity and 0.57 percent on taxable commercial activity over $1 million. Only about 8.6 percent of Oregon’s businesses – 40,000 out of 460,000 operating in the state – will pay anything at all under this structure. The legislation creates a dedicated, stable and adequate funding source for schools without disrupting small businesses and individual Oregonians. Taxpayers will see a reduction in their personal income tax rates and sales on groceries and fuel will not be taxed.
“When we went to Coos Bay as part of the Student Success Committee I was stunned to hear a teacher, fighting back tears as she spoke, tell us that she had read a third-grader’s essay where the child wrote about how, when and why he was going to commit suicide,” said Sen. Lew Frederick (D-Portland), who served on the Student Success Committee. “To hear that kind of talk from any child is tragic, but to hear it from an 8-year-old is over the top. We have reached a crisis point in our state with our education system. Our kids – whether they live in Portland or Salem or Coos Bay or Burns – deserve better. We can do better and, with this bill, we will do better.”
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News release from the Oregon Education Association:
Oregon Senate passes historic $2 billion investment in schools after tens of thousands of educators stand up for students
Oregon educators are celebrating the passage of the Student Success Act today! After decades of holding our schools together at the seams, our state has never been closer to finally being able to afford to give Oregon students the schools they deserve. The next step is the Governor’s signature. The bill passes just ahead of school districts’ final budget decisions for the coming year, easing budgetary pressure.
“Less than a week ago, tens of thousands of educators, students, parents, and supporters gathered in one voice in nearly 100 communities across the state to call on lawmakers to do prioritize Oregon students,” says John Larson, high school English teacher and president of the Oregon Education Association. “Together, we are making history. Educators and public school families can start to breathe a sigh of relief tonight, knowing that instead of worrying about budget cuts, we can instead focus on the educational needs of our students and our future.”
“This $2 billion increase to the education budget means our schools will be able to afford to invest in students for the first time in decades,” says Larson. “Because of these dedicated funds, we’ll be able to give students more individual attention and smaller class sizes, we’ll restore programs like art, music, and PE, and we’ll be able to provide the mental and behavioral health supports our students so desperately need.”
The work, of course, continues. Educators will always stand united for students today, tomorrow, and every day.
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OMC Statement on Senate approval of $2.8 billion hidden sales tax
Salem, Ore. – Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce released the following statement after today’s Senate vote on HB 3427, the multi-billion dollar gross receipts tax:
“Rather than choosing a bipartisan path, it’s disappointing that the legislature went forward with such a flawed tax bill. HB 3427A will hurt local businesses and raise prices for Oregonians on many everyday necessities. It was just over two years ago that Oregon voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar hidden sales tax. We are currently evaluating the path to ensure that voters have an opportunity to once again weigh in.”
This statement may be attributed to Shaun Jillions, Executive Director of Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce.
Statement from John Larson, high school English teacher and President of the Oregon Education Association:
“I am extremely disappointed to see that gun safety has taken a back seat in the Oregon Legislature today. There have been eight school shootings already this year in our country. CNN has reported that the United States has 57 times as many school shootings as the other major industrialized nations combined.
“Our children, even kindergartners, are forced to undergo active shooter drills at school — not just fire and earthquake drills. Gun safety is a national crisis, and it’s unnerving and unconscionable to delay this legislation.
“The Oregon Education Association will continue to fight for the safety of our students and educators. School should be a safe place to learn and grow. Without passing laws to increase gun safety here in Oregon, that sanctuary will continue to be under threat.”
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News release from the National Federation of Independent Business:
Comment on Yesterday’s Tax Vote in the Oregon Senate
Creating a sales tax by a different name turns the state’s back on voters, businesses
SALEM, Ore., May 14, 2019–The following statement was issued by Anthony Smith, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, following yesterday afternoon’s 18-to-11 State Senate passage of House Bill 3427, creating a new “corporate” activities tax. The measure is expected to be signed by Gov. Kate Brown.
“No one who runs a business and has to meet a payroll is fooled by this bill. The so-called Corporate Activities Tax passed yesterday is a gross receipts tax, which is a hidden sales tax in disguise. It won’t show up on a customer’s receipt, but they will pay it when a product is taxed at each stage of the supply chain.
“Most irritatingly, a gross receipts tax is paid by businesses whether they make a profit or not. The state gets paid first, and without regard to start-up costs or profit margins.
“HB 3427 has no safeguards in place to ensure that the $1 million Oregon sales threshold won’t be lowered or eliminated in future years – or that groceries and other exempt products won’t be added back into taxable sales by future Legislatures, all on a simple majority vote.
“An audaciously bad piece of public policy was passed yesterday – audacious for its cavalier disregard for the will of the voters who rejected a gross receipts tax when Measure 97 failed in 2016.
“We’ll be ‘fixing’ the unintended consequences of this bill for years to come. That work will probably start before the governor even signs it.”
