Brown wants to divert kicker from top income earners

(Update: Adding House Republican Leader statement)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Gov. Kate Brown has announced a plan to limit Oregon’s unique tax rebate known as the kicker.

The governor said Thursday she wants to limit kicker tax rebates to $1,000 per taxpayer. She says it allows the state to retain $500 million in revenue, which she wants to use to pay down the pension debt and invest in rural housing.

The state automatically returns excess revenue to taxpayers when the state takes in more revenue than expected. This year’s rebate is expected to be the highest in state history, at $1.4 billion.

The median taxpayer is expected to receive $330, while the top 1% of income earners would rake in $14,000 in tax rebates. Brown says the plan allows for the “majority of Oregonians” to keep their rebate.

The plan is a heavy lift as Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, have recoiled at any proposal to limit the kicker.

House Republican Leader Carl Wilson (R- Grants Pass) issued this statement on the governor’s proposal to cap the kicker:

“Our state income tax revenue is at an all-time high. This is no time to begin skimming off money that hard-working Oregonians have earned. Invariably, when we return to our districts our constituents tell us they don’t want Salem politicians to mess with their kicker.”