Help Defeat the $6 Billion Tax on Oregon Sales

As you know, Initiative Petition 28 (IP28) – a proposed new tax on Oregon sales that would cost Oregon consumers and Oregon businesses billions – will be on the November 2016 statewide ballot.

IP28 would impose a huge new $6 billion tax on sales – the largest tax increase in state history – and would increase costs for Oregon businesses, working families and consumers with no guarantee where the money would be spent. If passed, this extreme measure would make our industry less competitive and make lodging and dining out costlier for our Oregon customers.

Defeating IP28 is a priority for the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. We’re asking you to join the Defeat The Tax On Oregon Sales coalition and help spread the word about this costly and damaging proposal.

Some important facts about IP28:

• IP28 would tax sales, not profits. Businesses would be required to pay the new tax whether they have a large profit, small profit, or no profit at all. 

• IP28 does nothing to guarantee the new tax revenues would go to schools, healthcare, or senior services. All of the new taxes would go to the General Fund, giving politicians and bureaucrats a blank check to spend billions of dollars as they please with no accountability to the public. 

• IP28 would impose the worst kind of tax on sales because it would be added at multiple steps in the production process – a “tax on a tax” – cascading into much higher prices for items Oregonians buy every day, without any exemptions. Electricity, fuel, insurance, food and many other items and services we rely on would be subject to the tax – making Oregon products more expensive and Oregon companies less competitive.

• A study by the nonpartisan Oregon Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) concluded that about two-thirds of this tax on sales would end up being paid by Oregon consumers, costing the average Oregon household more than $600 every year.  

• The LRO estimated passage of IP28 would result in the loss of more than 38,000 private sector jobs, impacting Oregon’s overall economy, small businesses and multiple industries.

Here’s where you come in. 

If you haven’t already, please join the coalition. Once you’ve joined, you will receive news and updates about the efforts to defeat IP28 and what you can do to help.

Visit the campaign website, DefeatTheTaxOnOregonSales.com, where you can read news and information about the negative impacts of IP28, and donate to the campaign. 

Also, like the coalition on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to share the word on social media about why IP28 is a bad idea for Oregon.

We need your commitment to help our industry by joining the effort to defeat the most egregious tax increase in Oregon history.

If you would like more information about the campaign to oppose IP28 or want to get involved in other ways, please contact the campaign at info@DefeatTheTaxOnOregonSales.com or (877) 575-9950.