Today, the Oregon legislature took the first step towards investing in Oregon families. The A Better Oregon coalition applauds Oregon’s legislative leaders for hearing the voices of parents, teachers, nurses, small businesses, care providers, and supporters, and making revenue a priority this session.

For decades, Oregon families have paid the price of our dead-last corporate taxes. Anyone who has been in an overcrowded Oregon classroom or struggled to find affordable health care knows all too well the funding crisis our state is facing. We have scraped by, and made ever-deeper cuts for more than two decades, all so big and out-of-state corporations can enjoy the lowest corporate taxes in the nation.

Today’s revenue announcement marks the first step towards holding corporations accountable for their fair share and finally making the game-changing investments we need to move Oregon past the subpar status quo. But our work doesn’t stop here: For Oregonians to thrive, new revenue must mean doing enough to finally make investments in the classroom, in health care, and in family services.

It’s clear that big corporations should pay to make these investments. For too long, the world’s biggest corporations, like Comcast and Walmart, have gotten a free ride here in Oregon. Oregon businesses pay just 80 cents for every $1 of public benefit they receive, leaving working families and individual taxpayers to subsidize their profits. Big corporations’ refusal to pay their fair share has created Oregon’s budget shortfall — it’s only fair that they do their part to overcome the gap.

Bold action on revenue and corporate accountability is more important than ever with national threats looming. Donald Trump’s extremist administration is intent on gutting critical services like education and health care, and passing multibillion-dollar tax cuts to pad the pockets of big corporations and the wealthy.

Today, our legislative leaders took the first step on a long road towards building a better Oregon. It won’t be easy to turn the tide of decades of disinvestment, but with your help, we can finally put Oregon families first. Sign up to volunteer today!

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