Tax Referendum Petitions Online

In the last legislative session, the Oregon state legislature passed a number of new taxes, which Governor Kulongoski subsequently signed into law. Because we have a referendum process in Oregon, if we get enough signatures on petitions, we can refer these taxes to the voters and give the citizens the final say in whether to raise our taxes, rather than leaving it up to the legislature and the governor.

There are four petitions in circulation, calling for referendums the four most eggregious new tax bills.

• Petition #301:   HB 2649 increases the personal income tax rate for people earning over $125,000 per year. This will give Oregon the highest top income tax rate of any state in the country.
• Petition #302:   HB 3405 will increase business taxes, and will tax gross receipts of all corporate entites (including S corporations), regardless of whether they make any profit. This tax will undoubtedly result in more small businesses having to shut down or move out of state.
• Petition #303:   HB 2116 assesses a 1% tax on all healthcare premiums, which will be passed on directly to consumers.
• Petition #304:   HB 2001 increases the gasoline tax from 24 cents per gallon to 30 cents per gallon, — a 25% increase. it also mandates new land use regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gases…

PLEASE NOTE: You can only sign a petition if you are a registered voter in Oregon, and received a ballot in the last election at your current address, (or, if you moved since the last election, if you have re-registered at your current address).

Please DO NOT sign any petition more than once. You cannot sign a single-signer (downloaded) petition if you have already signed a petition for the same referendum in person, or vice versa. We do recommend signing all four petitions, however. If you have already signed the first two petitions (personal income tax and corporate/business tax), then you can use the single-signer petitions to sign the other two (healtcare tax and transportation/gas tax).

DOWNLOAD PETITIONS

If you have NOT already signed these petitions, you can now download single-signer petitions for each of these bills, sign them, and mail them to:

AFP-Oregon
7100 SW Hampton, Suite 201
Tigard, OR 97223

To download the first two petitions (personal income tax and corporate/business tax), Click Here.

To download the second two petitions (healthcare tax and gas tax/transportation bill), Click Here.

Please be sure to read the instructions thoroughly.

If you would like to circulate petitions and gather signatures from friends, family, and co-workers, or volunteer to gather signatures from the public, please contact us to get a petition packet and more information.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at your local chapter of Americans for Prosperity.

Mining in Oregon: An Endangered Industry, Part 1

This is the first half of a one-hour program that examines the mining industry in Southern Oregon. (The second half hour of this program will be posted next month.)

In the first segment, a gold miner shows us the adit of a gold mine in Josephine County, Oregon, where there’s still plenty of gold in the ground but the challenge is getting it out. He also shows us one of the best places for gold panning along the Rogue River, but cautions about running afoul of the new regulations. Then a retired state geologist discusses the different types of minerals found in Southern Oregon, and why it’s so difficult for miners to extract them.

In the second segment, we visit the Dawg Mining SummerFest and learn about highbanking and gold panning. Then we visit the site of one of the largest and highest grade silica deposits west of the Rocky Mountains, and learn why it’s taken 24 years to get to the point where the owner of the claim has any hope of mining it.

In the third segment, a gold miner shows us the reclamation project he implemented at a gold mining site in Golden, Oregon, where he established a wetlands with eleven ponds, providing habitat for fish and wildlife and trails for recreation. Then the former owner of the largest mining shop in the US discusses mining and mining regulations, and their impact on the local economy.