[5]
By Oregonians for Food and Shelter [6],
OFS and our broad coalition of concerned partners are closely watching the developments for IP 28, or what we believe is likely to become Ballot Measure 121. Oregon voters are inching closer to voting on whether to prohibit animal agriculture, pest control, hunting and fishing in the state. The Secretary of State’s office is in the final stages of reviewing and validating the signatures submitted by the petitioners [7], and they look very close to qualifying – we will know for certain later this month.
While signatures are validated, the state has plenty of work to do to gear up. This week, the Legislative Revenue Office released it’s preliminary analysis of tax and economic consequences [8], and while it’s narrowly focused, it already projects a $517 million hit to Oregon’s economy (likely vastly underestimated based on indirect impacts) and 2300 lost jobs. The analysis notes that it doesn’t address business impacts (e.g., coastal restaurants that can no longer serve seafood). Department of Administrative Services projects a revenue loss to the state of around $100 million per year if the measure passes.
Our opposition coalition has been actively preparing as well. This week, our partners kept a close eye on the Financial Estimate Committee [9] working up the projections. We issued a press release on the preliminary financial impact estimates, and will continue to share input directly. We continue to add coalition members and opposition campaign supporters (please sign up here! [10]). Our coalition has also placed two individuals on the Secretary of State’s Explanatory Committee [11], charged with writing the voter pamphlet’s statement: OFS’s own consultant Rocky Dallum (who represents several OFS members and livestock organizations), and Amy Patrick, who represents various sportsmen’s and big game organizations. We have great confidence in both of them to articulate the deep and catastrophic impacts of the potential measure.
If you are asking what you can do, donate today to the OFS PAC. [12] Oregon Farm Bureau also has a fund you can contribute to directly that will help build resources until we officially launch our opposition campaign. DONATE NOW! [13]