Last Tuesday was Tax Day. Oregonians pay the largest share of their income in taxes, with middle-tax Oregonians bearing the heaviest burden in the nation. A ‘Tax Day Tax Relief’ package is the latest attempt by Republicans to bring good legislation out of committee for a floor vote. Senator Dennis Linthicum states, “Our traditional, historically sound legislative ideas never got heard at the committee level so we have been focusing on bringing several key policy areas – healthcare, taxes, crime, policing, education and medical freedom – to the floor.”

Democrats continue to block bills that would have given Oregonians much-needed relief. The Tax Day Tax Relief package included bills that would have repealed unfair double taxation and given middle-class Oregonians a broad-based tax cut.

While Oregonians were trying to pay their tax obligation on Tax Day, another government failure occurred. Vendor internet service outage impacted the state government websites. The outage made it impossible for taxpayers to access the Department of Revenue website and the internet portal, Revenue Online. To accommodate affected taxpayers, the Department of Revenue accepted tax payments through midnight, Friday, April 21, without assessing late penalties or interest on taxes owed.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Senate Republicans already made a similar move to decrease the cost of living with their Affordability Package. The senate attempted to withdraw seven pieces of legislation that would help relieve Oregonians saddled with inflationary costs and tax burdens. The rejection comes amid Oregon experiencing one of the nation’s largest increases in homelessness and a major housing affordability crisis.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republicans attempted to withdraw sixteen pieces of legislation from committee for a vote on the Senate floor that would make communities safer. Democrat’s complete rejection came after they rejected a ‘Safe Schools’ package.

Still waiting for movement in the House Rules Committee is the Bipartisan Drought Relief and Water Security package (BiDRAWS), which leverages existing programs and provides capacity to expand resources to support farmers and ranchers with a voluntary, incentive-based approach. Along side it is SB 1086, which would protect waters from homeless contamination.

Linthicum wants voters to know, “The attempt to move these bills out of committee and bring 'em down to the floor is designed to bring attention to what is really happening under one-party rule. Oregonians need to know we are fighting for them, using every parliamentary technique available.”


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-04-22 16:44:19

Last Update: 2023-04-22 22:55:10