FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2020

Contact: 
Jeff Reading
Communications Director, Stop the Metro Wage Tax
[email protected]
360-888-9520

PORTLAND – Opponents to Metro’s $5.2 billion wage tax today said outrage about the tax has been so overwhelming that the campaign has created a landing page for members of the community to endorse the effort to defeat it. 

“We can’t even establish a PAC until the judge rules on Metro’s attempt to politicize its ballot title, but we’ve already been flooded with calls from people who want to oppose this misguided tax on their paychecks,” said Jeff Reading, spokesperson for the impending Stop the Metro Wage Tax campaign. 

Community members in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties interested in lending their name to the opposition campaign are invited to visit www.stopthemetrowagetax.org.

“COVID-19 is a time when we’re turning to government for a lifeline, not an anchor,” said Ken Madden, owner of Madden Industrial Craftsmen. “Metro’s new wage tax is exactly the wrong tax at the wrong time. It will hurt family paychecks and threaten jobs.”

“Metro’s job-tax proposal is the wrong thing at the wrong time,” said Errin Caudle, project manager for JPSI Construction. “We are trying to get people back to work and get the region’s economy moving forward again. Metro’s tax would crush the progress we are trying to make.”

“Businesses are struggling, and many are permanently closing. Family paychecks are cut,” said Jayne Bond, CEO, Permapost Products Company. “A new tax on jobs and paychecks from Metro is an attack on our livelihoods when we are most vulnerable and can least afford it. Vote no.” 

“Metro needs to stop piling new taxes on top of new taxes,” said Mark Spiegelberg, business development manager of The Barbers. “No matter how worthy the causes, these politicians should hit the pause button. We are struggling to keep folks employed right now. We can’t afford another tax that does not end.”

“I built my company from scratch and I’ve fought to keep it strong even during this pandemic,” said Tony Iyke, owner of The House of Rose in Bridgeport Village. “We simply can’t absorb a new payroll tax without being forced to either cut jobs, cut wages or both. I don’t want Metro’s new tax to force me to make this decision. It’s heartbreaking.”

Additional employer groups to oppose Metro’s payroll tax even before an opposition campaign has been launched include, to date:

• Beaverton Chamber of Commerce 
• Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce 
• Intel
• NIKE
• Oregon Business and Industry
• Portland Business Alliance
• Technology Association of Oregon
• Tualatin Chamber of Commerce
• Schnitzer Steel

Once the Multnomah County Circuit Court rules on the ballot title challenge, the Stop the Metro Wage Tax campaign will formally announce its campaign structure, comprehensive campaign website, and full list of endorsements.

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