The personal income tax “kicker” is a coveted check on legislators over spending. It has been challenged multiple time, but that doesn’t stop legislators from trying again. Rep. Khanh Pham (D-Portland) Rep Jeff Reardon (D-Portland) and Senator Michael Dembrow (D-Portland) are again challenging voters to let them spend more of your money. They have introduced HJR 10 asking voters to end Oregon’s unique “kicker” income tax rebate and instead use the overpayment of tax dollars to boost earned income tax credit payments, which help the state’s poorest workers. The focus on low-income families with dependents under the age of 18 is to silence our objections. Who wants children to go hungry? They forget we have free meals (breakfast, lunch and some dinners) distributed by schools year-round. Even during the pandemic.

Legislators have tried various maneuvers to spend the kicker and not return it to taxpayers. In the 2020 session Democrats voted to pass HB 2975 reducing the 2020 kicker by $108 million. By moving budget items around the Democrats said they could utilize more funds for critical services such as community colleges and higher education. It was a back-handed violation of the Oregon Constitution. That little trick doesn’t work twice or there is something fiscally wrong with the budgets we are given. So, their only option is to again send the idea to the voters to change the constitution.

What is the benefit of the kicker? The kicker law was passed in 1979 to return taxes collected in a prior two-year budget cycle when revenues exceed the forecast by two percent. In 2000 voters made it a constitutional mandate. In the last two biennium’s $1.5 billion was returned in 2018 and $1.6 billion in 2020. That is an economic boost that certainly helped stabilize our economy during the pandemic.

Corporations originally received a kicker too, but in 2012 voters altered the constitutional mandate to redirect the corporate kicker to schools. However, the more we give schools the more program are created that eat up any benefit the classrooms might see. In 2018 the Corporate Excise Tax was also required of businesses to pay into the school budget. And still, we see no relief in the classrooms.

Legislators are masters at playing games with our tax dollars. You might say that giving the kicker to low-income families still gets the money back into the economy. But, consider how many social service programs that families won’t qualify for because of a boost in their income. That allows those funds to be spent some place else that furthers their agenda.

The kicker is the voter’s way of controlling over spending by the legislature. When the economy performs well, those that put the work in receive the rebate, it should not reward government.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-01-22 08:15:09