Lowering Taxpayer Costs

Bill Sizemore created Oregon's current ballot title system wherein voters recieve and simple and understandable explaination of what happens if they vote yes and what happens if they vote no. This replaced Oregons old system using an often confusing double negative, where people knoew what they believed but didn;t know what to vote to get it.

Bill Sizemore's ballot measures set the agenda for political discussion in Oregon for the past decade. Among the issues and measures sponsored by Bill Sizemore are the following:

PERS Reform

Bill Sizemore authored and was chief petitioner for Measure 8, a 1994 voter-approved constitutional amendment, which by official estimate would have saved the taxpayers of Oregon $349.5 million per year.

More importantly, the measure would have prevented the current $17 billion PERS deficit by eliminating years ago the eight percent guaranteed rate of return on money in the PERS fund. Measure 8 was invalidated in 1996 by a four to three vote of Oregon Supreme Court justices, all of whom were PERS participants. Across the state, people now are saying that Bill Sizemore (and former Rep. Bob Tiernan, who played a significant role in the Measure 8 campaign) were way out in front of the state's political leadership in recognizing that the Public Employee Retirement System threatens to sink the entire ship of state.

Property Tax Relief

Bill Sizemore authored and was chief petitioner for Measure 47, which voters approved in 1996. Measure 47 reduced property taxes in Oregon by approximately $450 million per year and limited future increases to not more than three percent per year, unless voters approved higher taxes. With Bill Sizemore's cooperation, Measure 47 was rewritten by the state legislature and approved by voters as Measure 50. Under Measure 50, homeowners can do up to $10,000 per year in improvements (not more than $25,000 in five years) with no increase in assessed value.

The Double Majority

Bill Sizemore authored Oregon's Double Majority law, which prohibits the approval of property tax increases in special elections, unless there is at least a 50 percent voter turn-out for the election. The

Double Majority, similar to quorum laws which almost universally prevent elected bodies from passing laws without a quorum of those officials eligible to vote on the issue, saves Oregon taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The Double Majority, which is much despised by politicians and liberal editorial writers, has been approved by Oregon voters three times now.

Light Rail

When the state legislature passed a $375 million Portland area light rail funding bill in 1995, Bill Sizemore collected the signatures and placed the bill before the voters. Voters sided with Sizemore and Oregon

Taxpayers United, defeating the light rail referendum by a decisive margin. Sizemore considers light rail to be one of the most wasteful, pork barrel proposals to ever burden the taxpayers.

Property Rights

In 2000, Bill Sizemore authored and placed on the ballot Measure 7, which Oregon voters approved by a decisive margin. Measure 7 required governments to justly compensate property owners for any loss of value that occurred as a result of a government imposed restriction on the use of their property.

Measure 7 was later invalidated by the Oregon Supreme Court. Bill Sizemore says that the Measure 7 decision is the most legally absurd supreme court opinion he has ever read. The measure was then rewritten as a statute, Measure 37, and re-approved by voters and is now on the books.

Reining in the Public Employee Unions

Bill Sizemore has authored and placed on the ballot several measures to rein in the political power of the public employee unions. These unions have spent more than $10 million fighting these measures. One such measure prohibited the use of any taxpayer owned resource to collect political funds for the public employee unions. That measure received 49 percent of the vote, even though opponents outspent supporters by a margin of about twenty-to-one. This measure has been adopted as a national model and is being considered by legislatures across the country.

Protecting Workers Paychecks

Bill Sizemore authored and placed on the ballot a measure to prohibit the deduction of political funds from employees' paychecks without first obtaining the employee's written authorization. Public employee unions have spent millions of dollars opposing Sizemore's proposal. They know, Sizemore says, that more than 90 percent of employees would not consent to political payroll deductions, if they truly had a choice. Sizemore says this measure is the key to returning the control of government back to the people and the taxpayers who pay the bills.

Merit Pay for Teachers

In 2000, voters rejected a teacher merit pay measure authored by Bill Sizemore. The measure would have required that teachers be paid based on job performance, not seniority, which currently determines more than 90 percent of a teacher's compensation. This measure also would have required school districts, in the event of lay-offs, to keep the most qualified, best performing teachers, not just those who have been there the longest.

Stopping Double Taxation

Bill Sizemore authored and placed on the ballot in 2000 Measure 91, which prevented the double taxation of income by making federal income taxes fully deductible on state tax returns. The measure was defeated by a margin of 45 percent to 55 percent. To prevent passage of Sizemore's measure, the state legislature placed an alternative measure on the ballot, which raised the amount of federal income tax that is deductible on state income tax returns from $3,000 to $5,000. Voters accepted the compromise measure, instead of Sizemore's measure. After the election, in a bait and switch move, the legislature voted to reduce the deductibility cap again, taking back even the compromise tax break they had offered.

Voter Approval for New Taxes

Bill Sizemore authored and placed on the ballot a measure to require voter approval for new or increased taxes and fees. Due to a confusing description of the measure on the ballot and a large campaign against it, this proposal was defeated.