Last week, Brown came under fire by the Bend Bulletin for instructing her special pension panel to operate in “complete secrecy”. The panel is considering tens of millions in tax hikes.
Now, the Albany Democrat-Herald is weighing in, slamming Kate Brown for betraying her promise of government transparency.
“When Brown took office after the resignation of John Kitzhaber, she made a point of talking about working to rebuild trust in Oregon state government. One big way to do that, she said, would be to increase government transparency… But the governor too often has been too willing to hold vital discussions behind closed doors. That’s no way to build trust in government.”
Kate Brown’s decision to double down on secrecy comes as she pushes for a “hurry-up carbon tax” that could hurt working families.
The Bend Bulletin editorial board writes, “Gov. Kate Brown said earlier this summer that she wants to use the short 2018 legislative session to pass a carbon tax for Oregon.”
“Trying to impose a momentous change on the state in barely over a month — on top of all the other bills that the Legislature will be considering — invites a monumental policy flop.”
“It could make the $300 million Cover Oregon boondoggle look teeny.”
Tax hikes and broken promises – it’s just more of the same from Kate Brown.
The Bend Bulletin: Brown's Irresponsible Goal of A Hurry-Up Carbon Tax
Gov. Kate Brown said earlier this summer that she wants to use the short 2018 legislative session to pass a carbon tax for Oregon.
Trying to impose a momentous change on the state in barely over a month — on top of all the other bills that the Legislature will be considering — invites a monumental policy flop. It could make the $300 million Cover Oregon boondoggle look teeny.
A carbon tax basically puts a price on carbon. Emitters have to pay. It’s not clear what form that might take in 2018. One clue is Senate Bill 1070, which was introduced and died in the 2017 session. It required big emitters to pay a carbon tax and then reinvested the tax revenue — perhaps $700 million a year — to reduce the use of carbon and create jobs.
The $700 million wasn’t free. Oregonians would be paying for it by paying more for groceries, health care, heating and to get to work.
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