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* The cuts are real: No, we won't be shutting down prisons and dismissing kids from schools in April, but if Measure 30 fails some school districts will close early and thousands of low-income Oregonians will lose health-care benefits.
* There's a ripple effect: If the proposed cuts are put into place, Oregon will lose an estimated $197 million in matching federal funds between now and 2005.
* It's not bad for business: There's no proof that Oregon businesses are fleeing the state because of high taxes. In fact, a new study by Ernst & Young for the Council on State Taxation ranks Oregon's business-tax burden the lowest in the nation. Check out the study for yourself, as well as a critical analysis of it, on the Oregon Center for Public Policy website (www.ocpp.org).
* It may save you money: If M30 passes, Multnomah County will refund part of a local tax increase approved last year. Because the local tax hits low- and middle-income taxpayers harder than the state tax does, county officials say two-thirds of Multnomahites will end up paying less overall if M30 is approved.
From Friday through Tuesday, drop off your ballot at any Multnomah County library or express drop site, including Pioneer Courthouse Square.
