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Oregon voters sent a message Tuesday night. It might not be something many of us on the east side want to hear, but it was an important message about public services in Oregon.
Voters, by about a 54 percent to 46 percent margin, said yes to higher taxes on Oregon’s richest citizens and on corporations. They endorsed tax increases approved by the 2009 Legislature that had been challenged by a group that called itself Oregonians against Job-Killing Taxes. A majority of voters said they are tired of larger and larger class sizes, shorter school years and cuts to social services.
Public services, such as police and social services and education, cost money. And, like everything else, they generally will cost more money to provide every year. The Legislature decided this past year to draw a line on further cuts. It didn’t go over so well, resulting in ballot initiatives against both the personal income tax hike and the corporate increases.
Tuesday, voters weighed in. Everyone thought the vote would be close — except in Multnomah County where the increases would win overwhelmingly, and in Eastern Oregon, which would trounce them. The west side went for the measures, even bigger than expected. The east side, though, didn’t quite reach the levels of opposition that was expected. In Union County, for example, the no votes were 57 percent, when more than 60 percent can usually be counted on in conservative causes.
Although the measures went down in most counties, a majority of people statewide apparently had doubts about the impact a cut of $733 million in the state budget would have on schools and services.
Even though the measures passed, it will be incumbent upon the Legislature when it meets in special session in February to find ways to provide incentives for Oregon businesses to reinvest in jobs. Public services and good schools matter to people. But so do jobs. Oregon
businesses also need an incentive to invest in our state — to do business here, to prosper here and to hire more Oregonians.
We’re still a long way from economic recovery. Whether these measures forestall or hasten the recovery remains to be seen. But the fact is that it’s time to move forward, to work together to make Oregon better. That goes for all of us — the Legislature as well as the private sector.
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Opinion 
