It ain't quite over: veto alert

Sure, the legislature has adjourned, but there's still a few bills to watch. The Oregon AFL-CIO is calling on progressives to take action to tell the governor: veto these two bills:

One, Senate Bill 1083-A provides a tax break for farmers and ranchers for jobs that pay at or slightly above the minimum wage. Besides rewarding these employers for keeping workers in low-wage jobs and providing taxpayer subsidies to businesses that are profitable as well as those that are facing hard times, this bill is a budget-buster. It started out as a modest $6.6 million item over the next four years but ballooned into a $138 million monstrosity as the Oregon Farm Bureau argued for extending it to more employers and more jobs. Question for the governor: Does it make sense to pay employers for complying with Oregon’s minimum wage law, especially when such payments could otherwise pay for six days of schools for every K-12 student in the state? Take Action.

The other, Senate Bill 887-B will provide a special time capsule for Nike and three other Beaverton-area corporations that will protect them from annexation by the city for the next 35 years. No other businesses or individuals will enjoy such legal protections from the ravages of time or the challenges of population growth between now and 2040. By then, Oregon’s population will have grown by 1.8 million and a starter home in Beaverton will cost close to a million dollars, but nothing will have changed when it comes to Nike’s obligations to support public services in the neighborhood of its headquarters campus. Question for the governor: Aren’t our laws supposed to apply equally to all taxpayers? Take Action.

Discuss.