He Who Gobbles Last...
Local business leaders are certainly giving thanks this week. On Nov. 21, Don McClave, head of Portland's Chamber of Commerce, hammered out a deal to temporarily raise the business income tax in Multnomah County by 0.5 percent--a full percentage point less than school advocates had originally wanted. At press time, the Multnomah County Commission was expected to vote to send the 0.5 percent business income tax to voters for a March election. Local businesses, however, might not be smiling next November, as last week's deal may fuel support for an initiative aimed at permanently raising the corporate income-tax rate statewide. Shortchanging the schools, after all, doesn't look good when you consider Oregon businesses' current blessings. Tim Nesbitt, director of the Oregon State Council of Service Employees and an adviser on the ballot initiative, says that this year's corporate kicker gives Oregon businesses the lowest corporate tax rate in the country, among states that have business taxes. The $203 million windfall equals a 42 percent drop in the corporate rate. Even with the increase in the BIT, says Nesbitt, Multnomah County businesses will see their taxes lowered by 35 percent. Meanwhile, the kicker is only providing a 14 percent decrease for individual taxpayers. Portland schools need an additional $15 million next year to insure that teachers aren't laid off. To raise the cash, this year school advocates proposed a 0.75 percent increase in the county BIT (half of what the chamber, the County Commission and the City Council signed off on last year). The chamber, however, held fast at 0.5 percent, leaving a funding gap that frustrates school backers. "I could live with the 0.75 percent increase," said City Councilman Erik Sten, who initially advocated for the 1.5 hike. "But to raise it any less than that is crazy." --JF
INSIDE OUTSIDE IN
Here's a graphic image: If you took all the dirty hypodermic needles that Outside In has collected since 1989, they'd stretch from the I-5 Bridge in Jantzen Beach to the state capitol in Salem. Eight years ago this month, the Portland social-service agency began giving away hypodermic needles to junkies who brought in their used "works." The idea was to curb the spread of HIV by exchanging dirty needles for clean ones while providing information about AIDS. The needle-exchange program has survived cuts in federal funding and criticism from those who say the agency should not help people engage in an illegal activity. It is now one of the oldest needle-exchange programs in the nation. Outside In will celebrate its anniversary by doing what it does every day: giving out safe needles in exchange for used ones. HIV program coordinator Ann Hinds says the program tries to establish a pattern of exchange so that HIV is prevented and needles are disposed of properly rather than thrown in the streets where children might come into contact with them. Although people aren't required to turn in needles to get new ones, the agency takes in more than it gives out. According to Outside In, it has given out 757,164 needles over the past eight years and taken in about 803,301. The average syringe is 4 1/2 inches long, so the number of needles taken in would total about 57 miles. -SMP
TRANSSEXUAL PROTEST
Cost-conscious health insurers aren't the only ones who question whether transsexuals suffer from a medical problem ("Changing Protocol," WW, Sept. 24, 1997). This weekend, transsexuals protested in front of In Other Words, a Southeast Portland feminist bookstore. They claim the store sells books that say gender identity disorder is a ruse meant to force lesbians to change their sexual orientation. |
