Legislature revisits Carbon Tax

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

This is a complex topic … but you should read this because this represents the future of backdoor tax increases.

The Liberal Democrats in the Legislature tried to pass a carbon tax both in 2019 and 2020 but were resisted by Republican lawmaker protest walkouts.   Upset, then-Governor Kate Brown decided to bypass the entire Legislature by passing her own carbon tax by using just Governor orders.

The Taxpayers Association of Oregon created this cartoon at the time.

Some people call it cap-and-trade, as it caps emission levels and forces companies to pay massive fines (trading for carbon credits) as a penalty — alas a carbon tax.    Therefore Governor Kate Brown was able to tax Oregon companies by hundreds of millions of dollars without ever having to have a single Legislative public hearing or public vote.   One last point of trickery, those emission companies are forced to pay the money directly to a non-profit environmental slush fund.  As a result, government never touches the money and that is how government is able to say it is not a tax and even avoid the 60% vote requirement for all new taxes.

This is exactly what is going on with the $122 million dollar Google/Facebook tax, where the Legislature is trying to force tech companies to pay $122 million into a slush fund for Oregon newspapers as a media bailout.   Both the Carbon Tax and the Google/Facebook tax are a dangerous way for politicians to force taxes out of one private company and dump it on another private entity — and never have it pass through the hands of government.

According to OPB, both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have warmed to the idea of diverting the current Carbon Tax funds from the current environmental slush fund (Climate Protection Fund) and steer it towards the needs of the Oregon Department of Transportation which has been seeking $1.8 billion in new funds this year.

Some Republican lawmakers like the idea because they see it as a way of avoiding handful of tax increases being proposed.  For instance, it may take a potential 20-cent gas increase threat currently being proposed and cut it in half or more, and it may take the current $90 DMV fee hike proposal and cut it also in half or more.   These lawmakers feel like they need to do anything to lessen the damage from the proposed tax increases.

We are waiting on more details to see the full package.

Until then, we raise these concerns early:

— The Original Kate Brown enacted carbon tax is unconstitutional. We ask whether it has been fully exhausted legally before the Oregon Supreme Court (despite lower court approval).

— There is the danger of codifying this new backdoor tax trend when lawmakers start building laws around it.

— It locks the original victims into the crime.  It was wrong to tax emission companies, like natural gas companies, to pay for am enviro-slush fund.  Now, if this slush fund is captured and diverted to roads, we are left with natural gas companies and others paying for our roads.  This makes it more difficult to undo the controversial and dubious slush fund because so much depends on it.

— The original carbon tax is responsible, in part, for Oregon utility costs rising over 50% over 5 years.  How much more will our utility bills rise to pay for potholes, under the new system?  If the current system allows the Governor to raise the Carbon Tax without a vote, then what is stopping the Governor from tripling it and bringing in triple the funds for roads?

— The noble idea to lessen the impact of bad bills can sometimes prolong the problem and make things worse.   When big government liberalism goes too far it creates disasters and then people get hit with reality and reality checks leads to blowbacks, a public reckoning and course corrections.  This is what happens in other states.

— How is this carbon tax plan going to stop the trend of politicians using future backdoor taxes ($122 million Google tax) to raise billions in new funds without ever having to have government involved?

As said, we await the details.  The details changes everything.  Yet, we are in the final weeks of the Legislature before the lawmakers have to go home, and bills are speeding through the process with faster timing and with less public notice.   We are going to share our thoughts in real time and be a part of the debate.

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