SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Elderly people, the disabled, state troopers, schoolteachers and others are bracing for state funding cuts after Oregon voters rejected an income tax increase.
The proposed tax hike, which lawmakers said would have spared the state from having to make $310 million in cuts, was rejected Tuesday.
The state already slashed $700 million from the budget last year, and lawmakers have failed in five special sessions to solve the state's budget crisis.
Polls had shown that voters were closely divided over Measure 28, but with 87 percent of the votes tallied, the measure was failing by a decisive margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. The measure called for raising income tax bills for most residents by 5 percent over a span of three years.