Oregon sales tax proposal would fund universal health care

Peter Wong and Tracy Lowe, writing for the Salem Statesman-Journal, report that the State's Senate Health Care Committee heard a proposal to create a state sales tax solely to fund health care for all Oregonians. Here's how the story begins:

John DiLorenzo, a Portland lawyer who lobbies on behalf of business clients, told lawmakers Tuesday that a sales tax earmarked for health care would offer savings for businesses and state government.

Employers would no longer be expected to pay health care premiums for their employees. That would boost Oregon's economy, drawing hundreds of new employers to the state and increasing employment and income taxes, he said.

Oregon is one of the few states nationwide that could dedicate a sales tax to health care because the state currently has no sales tax, he said.

Sales tax proposals have failed nine times between 1933 and 1993, but DiLorenzo said Oregon voters rejected them because the proceeds would have gone into the state's general fund for schools and state services.

"The current electorate, given real leadership, might view a constitutionally dedicated sales tax to finance basic health care as preferable to the prospect of the loss of their health care — given how precarious each person's job happens to be today — and how unsustainable the current system really is," DiLorenzo told the Senate Health Care Committee.

Read the whole story here.

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