Voters pass new income taxes to fund schools for three years

Voters in Multnomah County voted to save schools, maintain help for the medically needy and keep the community safe by passing Ballot Measure 26-48 in the May 20 election. The vote was 58 percent “yes” to create a new county income tax of 1.25 percent dedicated to schools, public health and public safety.

By a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, voters in Beaverton agreed to pay more property taxes to save their schools from teacher layoffs and larger class sizes.

An estimated 1,100 teachers and county workers will keep their jobs and continue to deliver services in schools, health clinics and criminal justice facilities throughout Multnomah County.

The Oregon AFL-CIO handed out kudos to its affiliates for their involvement in the “Yes on 26-48” campaign.

Oregon Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was key to the measure’s passage, the labor federation said. AFSCME was the first organization to put a large contribution on the table to launch the campaign ($50,000 to start, $65,000 total) and provided full-time campaign organizers to guide labor’s effort.

AFSCME’s Cornelia Murphy and Joe Anderko organized labor’s voter outreach effort and Jason Leon coordinated outreach to seniors and human service advocates first organized as part of the Measure 28 campaign last winter.

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)-Oregon, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Portland Association of Teachers and other Portland area unions provided funds, phones and volunteers throughout the campaign.

Union volunteers made 8,000 phone calls from the Oregon AFL-CIO and SEIU phone banks in Portland. Another 15,000 calls were completed by AFSCME’s national phone center.

AFSCME, SEIU, Communications Workers of America Local 7901, AFT, the Portland Fire Fighters, Laborers Local 483, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, the Machinists Union, and the Alliance for Retired Americans all turned out volunteers on the phones and on the streets during the critical final days of the campaign, the Oregon AFL-CIO reported.

And labor’s traditional effort was magnified many times by school parents and human service advocates, who turned out more than 3,000 volunteers for the kind of person-to-person campaign that takes heart as well as smarts to produce, the state labor federation said.

“Multnomah County has set the right example for the rest of Oregon for how to rebuild our economy, create and protect good jobs and sustain our communities. We hope all of Oregon will join us now in rebuilding our communities and our economy,” said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt.

Ken Allen, executive director of AFSCME Oregon Council 75, said the success of the Multnomah County proposal and the school funding measure in Beaverton should send a strong message to Salem.

“If you’re a legislator from a district that hasn’t done what Multnomah County and Beaverton have done, what are you going to tell your constituents?” Allen asked. “Are you going to say: ‘Sorry, you’re not Multnomah County, and we in Salem can’t help you, so you and your children are going to have to live with less?’ I don’t think so. They may not realize it yet, but for most legislators, this vote will mean that posturing over no new taxes will soon become untenable.”

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.