They’re quietly holding tax increase hearings (no one knows about)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

In 2019, Oregon lawmakers voted to create the Oregon Task Force on Universal Health Care (SB 770) to draft up a plan for free health care for all Oregonians. The State government would replace all private insurers and abolish all company policies. Universal health care promises free health care, at no cost, to anyone — including non-citizens, homeless, and people moving into the state. To pay for it, the task force has proposed a new Oregon income tax with the highest rate at 15%.

The national non-profit, The Lund Report, has criticized the task force as it has “worked quietly” and “has drawn scant attention” for such an economic overhaul project and enormous tax increase (6/9/22). Very few Oregonians have any idea that there have been public meetings during the summer of 2022 (when most people are on vacation) to discuss abolishing private health care and replacing it with a possible new 15% income tax.

Bend’s newspaper, The Bulletin, criticized the task force for hiding the tax.

Here is the Universal Health Care (UHC) Task Force’s staggered tax brackets under one proposal.

The slide below, presented to the Legislature (slide 25), shows they are counting on soaking the “rich.”

You can email public comments (be succinct, respectful always) and your questions directly to the Task Force on Universal Health care at this email [email protected]

All Task Force meetings are recorded and materials posted for each meeting on the Task Force’s legislative website.

You can also see updates here on the Task Force website.