rger classes, and fewer classes being offered. It will also cut $57.8 million from Corrections which would led to 1,987 corrections officers being fired, or 4,900 inmates being released, but this causes a bigger problem, under Measure 11, neither of these two can happen, so that money will have to come from another source. Oregon State Police would see a $12.6 million dollar cut, which would eliminate 350 of the 720 officers on the force. Services to the elderly, disabled, and those covered by the Oregon Health Plan, would be cut by over $143 million dollars which would eliminate almost of the programs for these people. Finally, the biggest cut, nearly $767.3 million, would be cut from State Employees. This would mean that the state would have to cut 100 percent of all of the state funded positions for nine months to accommodate the reduction before the end of the 1999-2001 biennium budget .Measure 91, in principle, is a great idea. No one should ever be forced to pay taxes twice on the same amount of money. After all, part of the reason that we fought for our independence from England was to stop double taxation. However, the way in which the measure is written is far too drastic. What is the point of lowering taxes just to have all of the services that we rely on reduced to almost nothing. So who is really going to benefit from this measure? According to the statistics, no one. For those who are poor or middle class, there would be tax increases and reductions in all state services. For the rich, they will see some savings, but will also be hurt by the reduction in state funding. Even big corporation are worried about the big picture if this measure were to pass. Paul Phillips, a spokesman for Nike said, “If a lose of $1 billion a year in tax revenue forces big reductions in state programs, particularly education, it would seriously hurt the ability of companies to attract and keep high-quality workers.”What can you do? V...
