BY SARAH ROSS

HILLSBORO- A letter straight from Idaho’s Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter was sent to the President of Oregon’s Summit Manufacturing, Lewis Barnes, earlier this month.

Although the governor had sent out a blanket letter to Oregon businesses following the January vote on tax measures 66 and 67, this letter, forwarded by the Oregonians Against Job Killing Taxes coalition, was sent specifically to target Summit Manufacturing.

“In Idaho, we are deeply committed to maintaining the fiscal discipline necessary to give predictability to our businesses,” Otter said in the letter. “We know that business, not government, is the economic engine that will lead our state to a robust recovery. As such we will endeavor to minimize the regulatory and tax burdens on entrepreneurs. This you can depend on.”

Barnes could not comment on whether or not he was considering the offer. However, he did mention that three of his biggest clients have left Oregon in the past year.

“Why are the people in this state creating the situation to allow [other states targeting businesses] to even happen?” he added.

A new website launched by the Idaho Department of Commerce compares Idaho with its neighboring states. The site compares states based on taxes, cost of health insurance, cost of energy and labor, and cost of living. Specifically, the graph displaying these numbers shows Idaho to have lower taxes than Oregon and Washington, as well as lower costs to do business and lower costs of living.

Idaho By The Numbers (Taken from the Commerce Department Website)

When asked what the draw was to Idaho for Oregon businesses, Bibiana Nertney, Administrator for Marketing and Communications at Idaho’s Commerce Department, answered, “When you compare statistics, we can talk about overall cost of doing business; I think [that] is what Idaho really has to offer.”

“We have a very balanced tax burden, and I think that’s what companies want to know that they have. They want to know what their burden is, and they want predictability that it’s not going to change,” said Nertney.

“The state of Oregon continues to demonstrate that small businesses are here to simply be a source of funding for its out of control spending habits,” Barnes stressed. “They don’t realize, as Idaho does, that the very fabric that makes for a vibrant and stable economy is in fact small business.”

SALEM- Rep. Kim Thatcher,R-Keizer, tells stories of businesses leaving the state after the tax increases passed last month continuing the trend of Republican remonstrances on the issue this session.

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BY SARAH ROSS

PORTLAND- With the passage of tax Measures 66 and 67 on Tuesday, a concern for business migration and job loss has begun brewing.

One study headed by Oregon Politico’s parent organization, Cascade Policy Institute, found that with the passage of both measures, 8,000 additional taxpayers per year are expected to migrate out-of-state due to increases in the state’s marginal tax rates.

Steve Buckstein, Senior Policy Analyst at Cascade, says, “It will clearly influence business migration. Many of them have already left Oregon for more tax-friendly states like the state of Washington, and this will only make it worse.”

Ryan Deckert, President of the Oregon Business Association, presents Washington’s proximity as a particular challenge for Oregon. With Oregon now having the highest capital gains tax in the nation, and Washington having no capital gains tax, businesses may be drawn more to Oregon’s neighbor to the north.

“I think in Washington, especially the border towns like Vancouver, we’re going to see positive repercussions from it,” says Kris Greene, Director of Government Affairs for the East Vancouver Business Association. “I think people will do business over here. I think companies will relocate here a little more easily or will be motivated to move here because of taxation. ”

Yet, not all say the tax increases will bring devastation to the state’s job market.

“What I’m hopeful of is that our policymakers…are as concerned about job loss and migration as we are. And I think they are,” stated Deckert. “The legislature meets Monday, [and] there are things that we can do to start getting back on a path that will draw jobs to our state and not push them out.”

Governor Ted Kulongoski said that even with the passage of the tax increases, Oregon and the entire country is in a slow growth recovery. “We must continue working together if we want to position Oregon for economic success in the long term.”

A representative from Yes for Oregon was unavailable for question but that input will be in updated version of the article.