By Taxpayers Association of Oregon / OregonWatchdog.com
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Oregon reporter Jeff Eager with the Oregon Roundup wrote a guest commentary for the Wall Street Journal (which we remind everyone is the nation’s #1 print subscription newspaper).
Here are some juicy tidbits,
“As expected, the left used everything in its arsenal to thwart opposition. Ms. Kotek waited to sign the tax increase until shortly before the deadline, presumably hoping that the short window would deprive opponents of the time needed to organize a repeal petition. SEIU Local 503 urged members to watch closely as volunteers gathered signatures, ask them questions and “report any problems” via a Google form. The heavy-handed tactics backfired… Democrats haven’t learned their lesson. After declaring they’d repeal the tax to shield it from a public vote, legislative attorneys told them doing so would likely be unconstitutional. Now Democrats want to move the vote from November to May, hoping to protect themselves from appearing on the same ballot as their unpopular tax hike. Doing so wouldn’t be fair to voters, as turnout is higher for general elections. Some 2.3 million turned out in 2024, vs. 1.1 million in that year’s primary.”
and …
“Ms. Kotek, a seasoned legislative tactician, is suddenly out of her element. Her procedural maneuvers and union-backed pressure tactics have met a public unwilling to go along. Oregon’s media environment is also becoming less ideologically uniform, and voters are more aware of the games played in Salem. The repeal campaign has tapped into a deeper frustration with the state government.”