
Ballot - Companies will probably spend millions to defeat Oregon’s proposed cigarette tax increase
JANIE HAR
The Oregonian Staff
This week marks the start of what promises to be one of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in Oregon history as voters decide in November whether to increase tobacco taxes to provide health care for uninsured children.
Measure 50 on the Nov. 6 ballot would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 85 cents, raising an estimated $153 million this two-year budget period and $233 million the next to provide health insurance to an estimated 117,000 Oregon children. The tax increase would go into the state Constitution. More…