Oregon's corporate tax refunds targeted

SALEM, Ore., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- An effort is afoot to overturn Oregon's unusual corporate tax refund law, which gives businesses a share of state revenue surpluses.

Under the 28-year-old law, tax rebates are issued to corporations in state budget cycles when state tax collections exceed official projections by more than 2 percent, The Ashland (Ore.) Daily Tidings reported Wednesday.

"Historically, about 80 percent or more of the corporate kicker leaves Oregon and a big chunk of it goes to just 26 corporations that are multinational and multi-state corporations operating in Oregon," said political activist Sal Peralta, who is coordinating the effort.

In the mid-1970s corporations were paying about 20 percent of the state's collected income tax. Today, he said, they pay less than 5 percent.

This year, the Democrat-led state Legislature temporarily suspended corporate kicker rebates and used the $290 million to create the state's first rainy-day fund, the newspaper reported

Supporters plan to submit a initiative petition Friday for the 2010 statewide ballot to have the so-called kicker law taken out of the state constitution so lawmakers have the option of doing away with it.

"We want future legislatures to feel as though they're empowered to get rid of the corporate kicker in a permanent way," Peralta said.