Leading Oregon groups, including labor unions and social justice organizations, urge NO on Measure 118. If passed by voters on the November 2024 ballot, Measure 118 would result in the loss of funding for vital state and local services, including Oregon’s classrooms, public safety programs, public infrastructure and more.
“Measure 118 will hurt firefighters and other frontline workers by reducing available public safety funds in state, county and municipal budgets.”
“We oppose Measure 118 because despite increasing taxes by almost $7 Billion dollars, not a single dime is allocated to support teachers, classrooms or students. Worse, the Legislative Revenue Office says it will lead to over $1 Billion in cuts in state general fund revenue in the first biennium alone – undercutting Oregon’s safety net and hurting our most vulnerable Oregonians.”
“Measure 118 is poorly designed. Its enactment would likely trigger unintended, damaging consequences. It would reduce available funding for schools, public safety and other essential services; it would send rebates to people who don’t need them while making it harder to address existing crises. Measure 118 would do more harm than good.”
“Measure 118 will ultimately take an incredibly harmful toll on the public services that Oregonians rely on: from draining resources to maintain and improve our roads and public infrastructure, to defunding schools and the staff that support students, to disinvesting in critical public safety programs, Measure 118 will hurt working families across the state.”
“Measure 118 would divert vitally needed funds from the state’s general fund, limiting access to resources that are vital for our communities, particularly communities of color who have been under-resourced. Measure 118 runs counter to our work to build the capacity of communities of color and will make it more difficult to achieve justice and equity goals.”
“Measure 118 will increase the cost of construction significantly by raising the price of building materials. Higher construction costs means fewer projects, resulting in union job loss and mass layoffs in the skilled trades and more expensive housing for a state in real need of expanded affordable housing inventory.”
“Measure 118 would hurt seniors living on fixed incomes by increasing prices for housing, groceries and medications – none of which are exempted from this tax. The last thing our state needs is to send rebates to wealthy folks who do not need it at the expense of services supporting our most vulnerable Oregonians.”
“Measure 118 will divert critical resources away from public safety, healthcare, and education to create a new handout that would even go to the wealthiest Oregonians. Reducing the state budget by $1 Billion to fund this risky social experiment is a terrible deal for Oregon and will endanger critical state services that support our most vulnerable communities and help keep our state moving forward.”
“Unfortunately, we do not support the Measure as it was designed. Like most initiatives that are designed by a group without broad public discussion or legislative input, this attempt at funding a guaranteed minimum income is poorly drafted and fatally flawed. Measure 118 is a hot mess and voters should reject it as inequitable and wasteful.”
“OLCV believes big corporations and big polluters need to pay their fair share, but Measure 118 misses the mark. Its flawed design will make it harder to fund critical programs that protect our environment, foster healthy communities, and reduce climate pollution. We can't risk the unintended, but real consequences of Measure 118.”
“Measure 118 is a direct threat to existing and future clean energy development in Oregon and will impede the state's ability to reach greenhouse gas reduction goals and transition to clean electricity. Private sector investment in research, technology and infrastructure is necessary to develop and scale climate solutions. Yet, Measure 118’s tax on sales would make clean energy projects financially infeasible in Oregon and will impact the cost of electricity for consumers.”
“The League supports a fair and equitable tax structure, and we support policies which address the needs of low-income people. However, Measure 118 is not the appropriate approach to accomplish this.”
“Democratic and Labor values prioritize policies that will help working families. By raising prices, eliminating jobs, cutting wages and slashing the state general fund, Measure 118 will hurt – not help – Oregon working families.”
