A 4-Pronged Strategy for Tax Reform

To make sure every Oregon child is safe, healthy, and well educated, we must change the way Oregon raises and spends revenue. After four months spent examining opportunities to improve Oregon’s tax structure, Stand for Children’s Task Force on Sensible Tax Reform concluded:

There is no silver bullet.  Within the current context of voter attitudes and beliefs, there is no viable reform or package of reforms that would generate significant revenue for schools and other services.

There are a number of things we can do to improve Oregon’s ability to provide a quality education to every child and adequately fund other necessary services:

1. Prevent further damage to Oregon’s ability to fund education and other services.
2. Improve the way Oregon raises and spends public tax dollars to increase accountability, adequacy, stability, and fairness.
3. Increase the number of Oregon legislators committed to adequate funding of education and other services that strengthen our communities.
4. Expand the constituency committed to supporting reforms that generate significant additional revenue in future elections.

This four-pronged strategy is guided by a set of policy goals. Together, these policy goals represent a vision of a tax and spending system that is accountable, fair, stable, and produces adequate revenue to meet the needs of all Oregonians. Read the full report.