By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com
6/26 update: The cell-tax bill passed House and Senate. No need to call your lawmaker.
In the final 50 hours of the Legislature, lawmakers are rushing out a costly cell tax HB 2757-B.
The $50 million a biennium tax is slated to fund the state’s new 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline but, as State Representative E. Werner Reschke eloquently noted in his testimony before the committee, 44 other states have thus far funded their call centers WITHOUT adding a new tax on consumers.
Core government services like these shouldn’t come with an extra tax on consumers. They should be funded like other emergency and public safety services — from general fund revenues. That’s probably why only five other states have enacted new taxes to fund 9-8-8 service. And not a single one of them has a tax as costly as the monthly $.50 per phone line that Oregon legislators want to enact.
The legislation, HB 2757-B, is sponsored by 25 Democratic legislators and it’s not surprising that the tax is also far more than the program actually requires. Representative Reschke noted in his submitted testimony that a tax of $.03, not $.50, should suffice to cover basic costs of the 9-8-8 hotline.
#1. Call/Email your Senator below and tell them No cell phone tax. No HB 2757-B.
#2. If you do not know who your State Senator is, go to this website and type in your address
#3. There is only the final 48 hours of this weekend to do this. This cell tax is ∗ nearly 500% over-cost * should be paid with existing cell-tax funds like other states.
Senator Dick Anderson
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1705
Email: [email protected]
Senator Daniel Bonham
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1726
Email: [email protected]
Senator Brian Boquist
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1712
Email: [email protected]
Senator Wlnsvey Campos
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1718
Email: [email protected]
Senator Michael Dembrow
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1723
Email: [email protected]
Senator Lynn Findley
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1730
Email: [email protected]
Senator Lew Frederick
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1722
Email: [email protected]
Senator Sara Gelser Blouin
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1708
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gelser
Senator Fred Girod
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1709
Email: [email protected]
Senator Jeff Golden
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1703
Email: [email protected]
Senator Chris Gorsek
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1725
Email: [email protected]
Senator Bill Hansell
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1729
Email: [email protected]
Senator Cedric Hayden
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1706
Email: [email protected]
Senator Kayse Jama
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1724
Email: [email protected]
Senator Tim Knopp
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1727
Email: [email protected]
Senator Kate Lieber
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1714
Email: [email protected]
Senator Dennis Linthicum
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1728
Email: [email protected]
Senator James I. Manning Jr.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1707
Email: [email protected]
Senator Mark Meek
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1720
Email: [email protected]
Senator Deb Patterson
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1710
Email: [email protected]
Senator Floyd Prozanski
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1704
Email: [email protected]
Senator Art Robinson
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1702
Email: [email protected]
Senator David Brock Smith
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1701
Email: [email protected]
Senator Janeen Sollman
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1715
Email: [email protected]
Senator Elizabeth Steiner
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1717
Email: [email protected]
Senator Kathleen Taylor
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1721
Email: [email protected]
Senator Kim Thatcher
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1711
Email: [email protected]
Senator Rob Wagner
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1600
Email: [email protected]
Senator Suzanne Weber
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1716
Email: [email protected]
Senator Aaron Woods
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1713
Email: [email protected]