Oh man, while I’d usually be on board with redistributing corporate revenue to the general population and while I was initially feeling in favor of this bill I think I’m going to vote against it. This breakdown is what ultimately convinced me for anyone interested.

The video explains these points a lot better than I will, but to summarize:

• This bill will inadvertently redirect funds paid for by existing corporate taxes from public services into taxable cash payments, a portion of which will be going to the federal government. I.e. A percentage of Oregon’s current tax revenue will become federal tax revenue.

• Oregonians receiving these cash payments could end up getting disqualified from income-limited services. There is a provision that aims to reimburse anybody who loses these services due to the rebate but that could cause further disqualification from services and so the cycle continues.

• This bill doesn’t target those most in need but rather flatly distributes the funds, reducing the effect it could have on struggling Oregonians in exchange for giving money to those who really don’t need it.

• If this were to pass we likely won’t see another corporate tax being considered for a long time. And while I generally think good now is better than perfect later with these things, this bill seems to have some significant inefficiencies and I believe we can do better.

Edit: Formatting