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| 8/18/2003 9:37:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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| Libertarian Party of Oregon Executive Director Richard Burke unabashedly says that Ballot Measure 29 is a new tax. Photo by Rocky Wilson |
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Libertarian executive director opposes Sept. 16 ballot measure
By Rocky Wilson
of the Chieftain
The executive director of the Libertarian Party of Oregon is stumping around the state again, this time in opposition to Ballot Measure 29, which is the sole subject of a Sept. 16 statewide special election. Measure 29 would change Oregon’s Constitution to allow general obligation bonding to finance public pension debt.
Executive Director Richard Burke, who was in town earlier while running for governor and promoting another Libertarian candidate running for a statewide office, was in Enterprise last Thursday morning, sharing his thoughts in opposition to the upcoming ballot measure both to KWVR radio and the Chieftain.
He calls Measure 29 “a tax trap.”
The Oregon Legislature has placed the measure before the voters in an attempt to correct the state’s Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) debt that Burke says is now between $16 and $20 billion. “That is $10,000 in debt for every man, woman and child in the state,” says the Libertarian official.
General obligation bonds, which offer the lowest interest rates to the borrower, would require an amendment to the state Constitution before they could be implemented to pay PERS claims, said Burke. He went on to say that such a constitutional change could save the state $45 million in the first year, but went on to raise a series of red flags.
“Refinancing debt is a good idea, but this measure is fraught with problems,” Burke said.
One argument he makes is the Legislature did not limit the borrowing authority to curing the PERS debt. Calling it one of several “loopholes”, Burke said that the wording in the bill could be translated to, in the future, include pension liabilities for veterans and other subgroups.
He specifically argued against wording in the measure that said, “The amount of indebtedness authorized by this section and outstanding at any time may not exceed one percent of the real market value of all property in the state.” The Libertarian executive director countered that there is no cap on the indebtedness because of the steadily rising real market value of properties. He also questioned whether the value of property in the state would include federal and state holdings.
Unknowns could dramatically increase how much indebtedness could be realized and, says Burke, there is no sunset clause on the measure. He foresees a debt which will be handed on for generations.
Burke, who would like to see any savings used against the debt, notes that there is no provision in the measure as to how the savings would be applied.
He further contends that Ballot Measure 29 “is a subtle tax increase.” He likens the Legislature’s approach to the problem to giving the Legislature a credit card to parlay the PERS debt. “Debt service payments on bonds are like minimum payments on your credit cards -- a bad and expensive idea,” said Burke.
The Libertarian answer to the PERS problem is to end PERS completely and replace it with a Public Employee Personal Retirement Account (PEPRA), which is a form of a 401(k) known as a 403(b).
According to Burke there is no organized effort in Oregon to pass the measure.
Though the deadline the Secretary of State’s office has to deliver voter’s pamphlets to Oregon voters is not until Sept. 6, Wallowa County Clerk Charlotte McIver says that ballots to the county’s 4,536 registered voters will be placed in the mail Aug. 29. She goes on to say that the registration deadline for the special election is Aug. 26. People wishing to register to vote must either be in the county clerk’s office or have mailed in the information to be received by that date.
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