On May 21st you have an important decision to make, and voters will be watching.
Governor Brown has a called a legislative Special Session — a rare event in Oregon politics — and used the unique opportunity to prioritize the needs of the wealthy, those who happen to own “small” businesses.
The Oregon Center for Public Policy reported that the tax cut is “heavily skewed in favor of the rich.”
Special Sessions are meant for urgent matters, such as emergencies. But in Oregon they’re now used by Democratic Governors to give tax breaks to the wealthy, such as the infamous 2013 tax breaks to big business, which Kate Brown now wants to extend.
The 2013 tax breaks to big business are hated by progressives, who continue to demand that they are rescinded. By deepening these tax breaks Governor Brown makes their rescinding all the more difficult, if not impossible.
By taking this action, now, during election season, the Governor is loudly signaling how she’ll govern if she is re-elected (she’s yet to serve an entire term as Governor, as she continues to finish the term of Governor Kitzhaber who resigned amid scandal).
We know that you Democratic legislators are under heavy pressure to fall into line and vote ‘YES’ to Governor Brown’s tax cuts, since a defeat would look bad for the Governor during election season. But we insist that your allegiance should be with the voters who put you into office instead of prioritizing Kate Brown’s re-election campaign.
We especially insist that the leaders and most progressive legislators have a special duty to not only vote ‘NO,’ but to loudly speak out against this Special Session. We call on Tina Kotek, Alissa Keny-Guyer, Diego Hernandez, Rob Nosse, Tawna Sanchez, Karin Power, Pam Marsh, and Senators Michael Dembrow and Lew Frederick to use their public platform to promote the interests of the public.
We are tired of Democrats voting yes to anti-worker “grand bargains,” or staying silent as progressive legislation like HB 2004 gets shot down. Oregonians elected you to champion their interests.
Democrats command nearly a super majority in the legislature, but this power continues to be used to prioritize the needs of the rich, and meanwhile there are simultaneous crises in Oregon over education, housing, PERS, and a lack of living wage jobs. A Special Session should be called to fix these urgent matters, not make them worse by yet more tax breaks to the rich.
The Governor’s Special Session is a poison pill meant to keep Oregon on the wrong path, and cannot be made sweeter by adding “revenue neutral” amendments or “sunsets.” It must be rejected outright.
The stakes are high, and by following the Governor’s lead you may be putting yourself in the position of following Senator Rod Monroe’s lead, out the doors of the legislature. The Senate Democrats that Monroe was so loyal to were powerless to keep him in office, after he offended his constituents. Voting ‘YES’ on the Governor’s tax breaks will be similarly offensive.
We agree that it would be a tragedy if Knute Buehler were elected as Governor, but a similar tragedy would be solidifying the 2013 tax breaks and keeping Oregon trotting down the same neoliberal road to ruin.
We demand a tax overhaul of Oregon. It’s obvious to everyone that our tax system is broken. We demand that the wealthy and corporations are taxed to fully fund education, housing, healthcare, and the jobs and pensions connected with fully funding state services.
The Oregon Center for Public Policy recently stated that “a repeal of the [2013] tax break would make the upcoming session truly special.”
We agree, that would be a step in the right direction, as opposed to the Governor’s misstep that legislators must choose to follow, or reject. Politics has changed in Oregon and the legislature needs to catch up, or we the voters are prepared to leave you behind.