It doesn’t really matter how.
Tax systems not the crux of Washington’s and Oregon’s budget woes
Almost every state is experiencing hard-core, near-cataclysmic budget woes. States like Oregon that rely heavily on income tax. States like Washington that rely just as heavily on sales tax. States like California that rely on both.
So it is hard not to chuckle at the headline in Oregon’s leading newspaper: “Oregon’s state finances desperately need stability, and a sales tax would provide that.”
Hmmm. Sounds like the flip side of the battle cry in Washington: If only we had an income tax, Washington’s budget situation wouldn’t be so bad.
Except that it would be.
The money is always greener on the other side.
Whatever happens, I seriously hope that these folks don’t get the idea that our respective states need BOTH tax systems.
Sales tax proposals ALWAYS get referred to the ballot box here in Orygun. They have ALWAYS gotten defeated, nine times running now.
A sales tax WOULD be acceptable to most if it was designed so that it reduced the state income tax burden, and the combination of the two DID NOT add up to new taxes OR new taxing authority.
The proponents won’t even consider that, since their idea all along is additional revenue to buy off the populace’s vote.
What they don’t realize is that the majority of Oregonians are already bought off, consistently vote Democratic, and STILL don’t want new taxes.
The NO vote on any new sales tax proposal is the easiest campaign to work on, if you’re looking for initiative and referendum experience. The money just POURS in to the campaign coffers, and people line up in the rain to sign the initiative petitions.
It’s hard to b3e sympathetic for the budget woes now, since during the last biennial Legislature, the Democrats initiated 20% in new spending, based on the income tax revenue from the still-hot economy. They were warned at the time that a business downturn, with large cuts in tax revenue, was just around the corner, and saving that money was prudent, but they ignored that advice and spent the money.
The state is short about 20% of revenue this biennium. Sic semper ignorati.
They already have that idea, had it forever.
They can’t sell it, however.