Oregon’s citizen-initiated ballot measure process is a tool of grassroots democracy, allowing collective action by an organized majority of the population. However, time and time again, those with vast resources have impeded attempts to make the city more equitable and safer for all. In this segment, Guest Mole Lauren Goldberg examines how business lobbyists have undermined citizen-led ballot initiatives (including PCEF, Preschool for All, Measure 110, City Charter reform, and more) – both before and after they were voted into law – to stop our elected officials from fully implementing the programs voters fought for, in favor of protecting capitalist interests.
Image: public domain "Caricature of Organized Big Business Interests," 1919, by
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Oregon’s citizen-initiated ballot measure process allows for activists, organizers, and everyone else to have a say in state and local policy. Not every state allows citizens to engage in this type of grassroots democracy, but Oregonians have used this process to enact sweeping progressive programs. In 2018, voters passed the Portland Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF. Unlike most climate actions, PCEF was conceived and championed by a coalition of “local leaders representing communities of color in the Portland area,” to invest in climate projects that benefited disadvantaged communities. In 2020, Oregonians passed both Preschool For All and Measure 110 - hard fought, and won, by people powered campaigns. Preschool For All began as Universal Preschool NOW! (UPNOW), a grassroot campaign led by volunteer organizers. The Multnomah County program was hailed as a “national model” when it passed, guaranteeing tuition-free, best practices preschool to every 3- and-4-year-old in the county while simultaneously increasing teacher pay. Also in 2020, voters turned Measure 110 into law, making Oregon the first state to decriminalize possession of illegal drugs, while expanding access to treatment programs. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers on all of these campaigns, Oregon is now home to some of the country’s most innovative environmental, early childhood education, and drug enforcement and treatment programs.
But there are Oregonians who would rather disregard the will of the voters. The Portland Metro Chamber, also known as the Portland Business Alliance, is a regional association that advocates for the capitalist class. While it claims to speak for all sorts of businesses, its decision makers are far from local mom-and-pop shops. The Chamber’s board is full of multinational corporations, commercial real estate companies, banks, and corporate law firms; it has also represented local real estate dynasties like the Schnitzers, the Goodmans, and the Sturgeons. Their lobbying efforts are prolific, meeting with city officials seven times more than any other organization over the past decade. The Chamber also has close ties to Oregon Business & Industry, a state-level lobbying group, as well as to People for Portland. “Anonymous” People for Portland “funders remain a secret but include [billionaires] Tim Boyle and Jordan Schnitzer,” according to Willamette Week. The Chamber is also tied to Revitalize Portland, chaired by Schnitzer and funded in part by Greg Goodman of the Downtown Development Group. Further complicating the Chamber’s relationship to local government, it has worked its way into a number of high profile public-private partnerships, like Gov. Tina Kotek’s Central City Task Force, which - like the Chamber - has a tiered sponsor system of large businesses, with their own agendas on crucial issues like taxes, police, and housing. Together, these groups pressure elected officials to keep business and wealth taxes low.
If it was up to the Portland Business Alliance, Preschool For All never would have made it in front of the voters. Before it was voted into law, it was clear on how the measure would be funded: an initial 2.3% tax on taxable income over $125,000 (for individuals), or over $200,000 (for households) – a group that makes up the top 5% of income earners in the county. Ballot measure language included a 0.8% increase to the tax rate in 2026. Armed with this knowledge, Multnomah County residents still overwhelmingly voted Preschool for All into law by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. However, the PBA kept UPNOW – the grassroots campaign that would eventually become Preschool For All and first suggested funding the program through an income tax - stuck in unsuccessful lawsuits for months, leaving organizers with only five weeks to gather the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. Against all odds, UPNOW’s volunteer organizers did so, paving the way for the program to be voted into effect.
But that wasn’t enough to stop the Chamber’s allies. In January 2021, the County Commissioners gave up a fifth of the tax revenue, to avoid so-called “double taxation” for business owners that also pay the county’s business income tax. Not even three years later, the Chamber and its allies are at it again. This month, the Central City Task Force recommended a ban on all new taxes until 2026 - including the voter approved increase to the Preschool for All tax, despite the fact that Preschool for All is in the infancy of its roll out. It will take time - and money - for the program to be fully implemented, as voters intended. But the Chamber and its capitalist friends simply don’t care if preschool is affordable, as much as they care about keeping less-than-one-%-more of their income in their pockets.
Using the judicial system to try to stop voters from getting a say about ballot initiatives that would benefit the working class has become a tried-and-true tactic for the Chamber. In 2022, they sued to keep another initiative off the ballot - specifically, the charter reform initiative, brought to the ballot by the majority of Portland’s volunteer charter commission. The Chamber again lost but continued to fight charter reform through the November 2022 election, when voters approved the measure 58% to 42%. Also in 2022, the Chamber tried to use the courts to keep yet another citizen-led initiative off the ballots; this time, it was Eviction Representation for All, a campaign led by local housing activists. While the legal challenges to Eviction Representation for All also failed, the lawsuit kept housing advocates tied up in court for so long that they were unable to gather the signatures needed in time for the November 2022 election, pushing the ballot initiative to May 2023 instead – an election that saw a far smaller voter turnout, leading to the campaign’s demise.
Of course, the Chamber might not care about renter’s rights or preschool for those who can’t afford private school tuition – its wealthy members are unlikely to avail themselves of such services. But, stunningly, it has also pushed back against the PCEF, despite the fact that its members cannot outrun climate change. PCEF is funded by a 1% surcharge on local sales at large retailers. The tax has proven to be lucrative, bringing in more money than originally projected. But rather than continue the work endorsed by a majority of Portland voters, Portland’s City Commissioners amended the law to allow the additional tax revenue to be used on other city projects. This effort was spearheaded by Carmen Rubio, who met with the Chamber’s lobbyists (as a group and on an individual basis) more than 100 times since taking office. While some of the reallocated money will still go to laudable efforts - like the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s climate programs - much of the money will also go to private entities outside the communities it was intended to help, including an “unspecified amount” to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and $28 million to the Keller Auditorium.
In addition to exerting its influence to override the will of the voters in regard to preschool and the environment, some of the Chamber’s most public facing work has been to undermine Measure 110. The original backers of the bill say Measure 110 needs more time, as funding for treatment and harm reduction were not put into place in August 2022. But, the Chamber and its allies have not been patient. The Chamber (as well as affiliates like Downtown Clean and Safe, People for Portland, and, The Governor’s Central City Task Force) never stopped pushing for more quote-unquote “security” in the central city and downtown – a thinly veiled euphemism for more police, despite the fact that there is no evidence that Measure 110’s passing led to an increase in crime,
Now, a coalition of powerful business leaders and their political allies are moving ahead with plans to quote-unquote “fix” Measure 110 by undoing its central tenet: the decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs. Some of the state’s wealthiest residents - all affiliated with the Chamber - are financing this push. Should their lobbying efforts fail in the upcoming February 2024 legislative short session, they plan to bring their policy to the voters through what will surely be a well-funded ballot initiative that the Chamber wouldn’t date tie up in court this time.
Luckily, all hope is not lost. The efforts to undermine Measure 110 have not gone unchallenged. Drug Policy Alliance, a national grassroots organization focused on ending the war on drugs, has promised to fight any effort to repeal Measure 110. UPNOW’s grassroots organizers are not giving up the much needed tax-revenue without a fight; information about efforts will be posted to their social media. And, despite the Chamber’s best efforts, charter reform did pass in Portland, and in November 2024, citizens will have a chance to choose new members of an expanded, 12-seat city council, through a ranked-choice voting system. Capitalists may never stop trying to undo popular policies, but together, the people can - and will - fight back!
- KBOO