Oregon's newest referendum - raise taxes!

#8. Despite many past referendums to constrain the frequent desire of legislators to raise taxes, Oregonians recently voted to raise them. According to the Economist mag. of early Feb. the citizens of Oregon via a referendum on Jan. 26 voted to increase their income taxes. Now Oregon has the highest rate of income tax among all US states. On 9 consecutive occasions piror to this, since 1930, the state voters had voted down a state sales tax. It is now only one of 5 states without such. But, the recent change of mood, the Economist suggests, may affect other nearby states which have recently resisted increases in taxes. This includes California, Arizona and Washington State.
The main opponents of the recent decision were business people, such as the chairman of Nike, a major employer n Oregon, who argued that such increase could kill job creators. A major proponent of the "battle" apparently were teachers, who felt the new taxes would go to improve public education.
It all goes to show that voters can identify ways and means as well, if not better than their representatives. Direct Democracy is alive and well in many of the US states, that is for sure.