Commentary

Oregon Says No to New Taxes

The nationwide trend of taxpayers standing up against higher taxes continues. A citizen effort to repeal a tax increase passed by the Oregon legislature turned in a record number of signatures in a record amount of time. Over 145,000 signatures were turned in to the Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday — all but ensuring that the measure will qualify for the February 3rd ballot. Taxpayers in Alabama, California, and Seattle are sending a strong signal to their elected officials. Balance your budgets without hitting our pockets. Competitive sourcing, privatization, and streamlining is a proven policy tool that can save significant money and should become more popular as elected officials are faced with stretched resources without an outlet to raise additional revenue.