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Oregon House Narrowly Passes Measure To Scale Back Tax Break

File photo of the ''Oregon Pioneer'' sculpture that sits atop the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network
File photo of the ''Oregon Pioneer'' sculpture that sits atop the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.

The Oregon House has narrowly passed a measure meant to scale back a tax break intended for small businesses. The measure cleared the chamber Friday over the strong objections of Republicans.

The tax incentive was created four years ago as a way to stimulate small-business growth. But Democrats, including Revenue Committee Chairman Phil Barnhart, said it disproportionately benefits doctors and lawyers.

"It's hard to see why wealthy professionals should get a tax deal that working people can't get," Barnhart said.

He said the tax break was rewritten in a way that would protect the kind of small businesses it was meant to help.

But Republicans, including Carl Wilson disagreed. Wilson said the measure would harm far more than wealthy entrepreneurs.

"You're going to be surprised at how many of those people you know in your district, except they wear jeans and t-shirts and boots," he said.

The measure was approved with the bare minimum of votes needed for passage. It now heads to the Oregon Senate.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.