Oregon voters soundly reject tax hikes, opting instead for service reductions.
In January 2003, Oregon voters rejected a $310-million income tax increase, leading to a shortened school year, police layoffs and other spending cuts.This type of government income "recession" will lead to cuts initially, but yield efficiency gains over the long-term, just as recessions do in the private sector.When the Legislature passed an $800-million tax hike package in August -- to protect schools and other services from additional cuts -- tax-hike opponents launched their petition drive to repeal the measure.