Oregon has a much lower threshold for allowing voter initiatives on the ballot, and a lot more of them show up. This has led to the Oregon state legislators often (maybe even usually) throwing any halfway-controversial measure onto the ballot as an initiative, rather than potentially take heat for voting for/against said measure.

So in the end, getting a state budget figured out for Oregon is a nightmare; and each election means researching and voting for ~10-30 initiatives. Their ballot pamphlets look like phone books.

Initiative 1033 is a giant tax shift that hurts lower income citizens and mainly benefits those with lots of property. Renters, who make up 1/3 of households in the state will pay the same taxes as before but see no rebate. Their tax dollars instead will go to pay property taxes for property owners.

Danny Westneat’s article in the Seattle Times says it all with his headline “I-1033 A Windfall for the Rich”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2010058262_danny14.html

As Westneat says, Eyman
“…could have targeted his tax relief to help those who most need it. But he didn’t. This is the rotten core of his initiative.
Forget all the caterwauling about spending cuts. At its heart this is a massive giveaway to the rich that does little or nothing for the poor.”

A vote for I-1033 will help millionaires and corporations pay their property taxes at your expense. Why should taxpayers with little or no property help pay taxes on million dollar mansions or second homes or investment properties. Vote No on I-1033

If you’re still undecided on the mayor’s race I suggest you watch the debate on KCTS tonite at 6pm. If it’s anything like yesterday’s debate on KING-5 you will get an opportunity to see for yourself just how in-over-his-head Joe Mallahan is.