Oregon War Veterans Association Opposes Measure 50
Oregon War Veterans Association announced today it will actively oppose Measure 50, urging not only its members, but all Oregonians, to vote against the new tax on tobacco. Measure 50 would place the new tax within the Oregon Constitution in order to fund a new government-run healthcare program for children. Similar tobacco tax increases in other states have failed to produce anticipated revenue, raising a red flag for Oregon taxpayers and economists. Oregon War Veterans Association is the latest group to oppose the measure because it risks the financial future of the state—and because it threatens other programs, including veterans’ benefits.
“Our opposition to Measure 50 isn’t about children, healthcare, or smoking,” said OWVA President Greg Warnock. “It is about an unsustainable source of income for an impractical program—when Measure 50 fails to produce the desired income, where will the money come from?” Warnock cautioned that when the tobacco tax fails to provide the necessary income to sustain the program, “the Legislative Assembly, in an effort to keep the program afloat, will be forced to raise all our taxes and make cuts elsewhere—cuts in programs for veterans, as well as for seniors and disabled, even things like schools and the state police might see their budgets cut in order to keep up this ill-conceived, unsustainable program.”
There are two primary reasons economists fear the tax increase will fail to produce desired revenue: higher costs for tobacco will result in reduced consumption, and a growing number of tobacco users will purchase their products from out of state in order to avoid taxes. A large-scale ban on smoking in the workplace passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly earlier this year could also have a large negative impact on tobacco tax revenue. Finally, more and more smokers are breaking the habit for health reasons, meaning fewer and fewer people will be paying the tobacco tax, regardless of the dollar amount.
“The Legislative Assembly knew this tobacco tax scheme was a bad idea; that’s why they wouldn’t pass the tax increase during this past session,” stated Warnock. “Now they have made an end-run around the normal legislative process by putting this ill-conceived plan before voters as a Constitutional Amendment.”
