Scott Moore

Man, even when the Oregonian Editorial Board is reporting on some genuinely good economic news, they just can’t help themselves from ginning up a class war against teachers and other public employees.

This afternoon, the process to reinvest in our K-12 schools moved one step forward, when the Corporate Kicker for K-12 campaign brought its signature total to 205,250 on Initiative Petition 35.

(That's Chief Petitioner Patrick Green turning in the signatures this afternoon ---->)

The initiative will reform the Corporate Kicker by putting those funds into our K-12 schools, rather than sending it to large, out-of-state corporations. As much as 80 percent of the Corporate Kicker money goes to corporations that are headquartered outside of Oregon.

Oregonians from around the state signed on to support the Corporate Kicker for K-12 initiative because they’ve seen the daily impact of our school-funding crisis. Students are crammed into overcrowded classrooms, thousands of teachers have been laid off, and schools are closing. At the same time, the state is losing billions of dollars to tax breaks.

“Across the state, parents know that we’ve got to get serious about putting money into our schools,” says the Oregon PTA’s Otto Schell. “This is the first step toward prioritizing our students and schools, and giving them the support they deserve.”

The Corporate Kicker for K-12 measure is supported by a broad coalition that is growing every day. The coalition includes the Oregon PTA, the Oregon Education Association, Basic Rights Oregon, Partnership for Safety and Justice, Tax Fairness Oregon, Alliance for Democracy, and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, just to name a few.

Initiative profiteer Kevin Mannix is back with another bad idea: Creating a massive tax break for millionaires by ending Oregon's Estate Tax.

It's another terrible idea from a man who's made a comfortable living by pushing bad ideas onto Oregonians. Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about Measure 84:

How much would this measure cost our schools and health care services?

Eliminating Oregon’s Estate Tax would cost our schools, senior care, public safety, and other priority services more than $240 million every two years. That's the equivalent of laying off 1,200 K-12 teachers. 

But it gets even worse. Measure 84 contains an additional new tax break that would allow wealthy households to avoid paying capital gains taxes entirely. This would result in hundreds of millions of dollars slashed from our schools, senior services, and public safety.

Who would benefit?

This is a massive tax break that only benefits the heirs of millionaires. Oregon’s Estate Tax only applies to estates worth more than $1 million. This tax break would only apply to less than 750 of the richest estates each year, while forcing cuts to schools and services that middle-class families depend on.

Kevin Mannix must really hate the latest bad idea from Kevin Mannix.

A few years ago, initiative profiteer (and five-time failed candidate) Mannix started the Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance to push his mandatory minimum sentencing ideas and tough-on-crime agenda. (Oh, also, the kind of “Castle Doctrine” law that led to Trayvon Martin’s death.)

According to their literature, the Anti-Crime Alliance wants “Oregon to have one of the lowest overall crime rates out of the 50 states in the United States.” And how do they advocate we do that? By spending a lot of money on public safety.

Mannix’s group claims to want:

[B]etter prevention, including education programs regarding drugs, gangs, domestic violence; ... enhanced criminal investigation and prosecution; ... effective treatment and rehabilitation programs, including aggressive prison work and education programs ensuring there is enough capacity in jails and prisons to incarcerate those who need to be behind bars; more careful supervision of inmates as they are transitioned back into the community, with provision of effective transition services...

All of those things require a big investment of state tax dollars, which are currently scarce. So, obviously, the Anti-Crime Alliance must be really worried about the newest ballot initiative from Kevin Mannix, which would give a tax break to millionaires by eliminating Oregon’s Estate Tax.