The effort to overturn Oregon’s new multibillion-dollar business tax got a major boost on Wednesday, when lumber company president Robert Freres Jr. gave a whopping $1 million to a political action committee working to refer the tax to voters.
The new gross receipts tax, which Gov. Kate Brown signed into law last month, was Democrats’ top priority this legislative session. They’ve described the $1 billion a year it is expected to raise as crucial to improving Oregon’s early childhood and K-12 education systems.
An association of industrial businesses filed paperwork last month to refer the tax to voters. They must gather 75,000 signatures within 90 days after the end of the legislative session to get the referendum on the ballot. Freres’ donation gives supporters a good chance of success, since signature gathering campaigns can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Freres is heavily involved in Oregon politics and typically supports Republicans, although usually the contributions come from Lyons-based Freres Timber Inc. or another associated company. For example, in 2018 Freres Timber Inc. reported $200,000 in donations to Republican candidate for governor Knute Buehler.
The political action committee Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales Now has so far received few other contributions. An associated committee, Keep Oregon Affordable PAC, has raised roughly $40,000, mostly from the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, according to state campaign finance records.
The Common Good Fund, a political action committee that was active in 2018 ballot measure and gubernatorial campaigns and supports the new business tax, has approximately $100,000 on hand, according to state records. Much of that committee’s financial support has come from Oregon’s largest company, Nike, including a $100,000 infusion at the end of April.