Murmurs: Owner of La Mota Issued $7.9 Million in Liens

OWNER OF LA MOTA ISSUED $7.9 MILLION IN LIENS: Aaron Mitchell, owner of the troubled cannabis brand La Mota, recently had more than $7.9 million in tax liens issued against him by the state. The Oregon Department of Revenue issued five tax liens to Mitchell and dozens of his LLCs in June, July and again in August for unpaid balances stemming from taxes due as far back as 2020. A June 4 lien reflects an unpaid balance of $5.5 million in marijuana, personal income and withholding taxes—including $3.4 million owed for personal income tax from 2021, according to the public document. (Interest and penalties add $1.8 million to the total.) A July 2 lien reflects an unpaid balance of $183,000 for the corporate activity and marijuana taxes, and a July 30 lien reflects an unpaid balance of $2 million for additional marijuana, personal income and corporate activity taxes. La Mota’s dealings with then-Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan forced her from office in 2023. Mitchell and his business partner, Rosa Cazares, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

KALSHI HIRES OREGON LOBBYISTS AND GIVES RAYFIELD $12,500: Ascendent New York City-based prediction market Kalshi has hired a pair of experienced Oregon lobbyists and made a $12,500 campaign contribution to Attorney General Dan Rayfield. Earlier this month, Kalshi reported hiring prominent Oregon lobbyists Mike Freese and Danelle Romain to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Kalshi is a privately owned financial exchange that’s been skyrocketing in value—closing on a target valuation of $40 billion. Kalshi is legal to access in Oregon and controlled by the federal agency that regulates derivative futures, though state attorneys general have increasingly pushed for greater control. For one, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown sued Kalshi for running an illegal gambling operation and defrauding consumers, and successfully convinced a state judge to halt Kalshi’s activity in the state. In his first term as Oregon AG, Rayfield has emerged as one of the most prolific filers of litigation against the second Trump administration. Last June, he signed Oregon on to a multistate effort to oppose Kalshi before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Rayfield is up for reelection in 2028. His office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

COMMISSIONERS EXAMINE WHAT CHANGES UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL CAN SHOULDER: In the waning weeks of August, Multnomah County commissioners will once again examine the tax on high earners that funds Preschool for All and suggest ways to modify it. (Any changes to tax year 2027 must occur by the end of August.) Thanks to work by advisory groups this year, county staffers have produced new financial projections for the program, largely fed by new demographic projections that the county will need just over 8,000 seats to reach universality—3,000 fewer than it forecast earlier. With those new estimates, the program’s fund balance could near $1 billion by fiscal year 2039, the county projects. But commissioners and County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson have asked for modeling that reflects factors beyond population, like updated seat costs, greater investment in professional development, and better support for high-need students. In scenarios where program costs increased, modeling indicated the program’s fund balance would stay well above zero. Projections indicate the program could also weather a recession or save a substantially larger reserve. But modeling also indicates what might send the program into the red. Near-universal participation, lowering the tax rate, or an indefinite pause of a scheduled 0.8% tax increase could deplete the program’s fund balance. In other words, the program’s large nest egg should be able to cover increased costs, but there seem to be limits to the structural changes it can weather.

WITH REPORT DELAYED, UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE BACKERS WEIGH IN: Early this month, the board tasked with shepherding a universal health care measure to the Oregon Legislature voted to delay its final report to December. It looked like a setback. But Valdez Bravo of Health Care for All Oregon says backers shouldn’t fret. “We’re happy for this extension,” he says, echoing the widely held view that the Universal Health Plan Governance Board needs more time to nail down the finances of a sweeping proposal to swap Oregonians’ insurance premiums for taxes to support a state-run, single payer health care system for all. Questions abound. Money is the first thing everyone asks about—and here we are talking tens of billions of dollars. “They’ve been trying to find this Goldilocks solution, a progressive financing structure that’s equitable, fair, but also somewhat easy to understand if you’re explaining it to voters,” Bravo says. Others say the problem runs deeper. “The revenues are overstated, the expenses are understated,” Jeff Gudman, a former finance committee member, told the board of its working estimates. It remains unclear whether the board, even by December, can get lawmakers a detailed plan they can plug into a bill. “That’s what I thought I voted for,” House Health Committee Chair Rob Nosse (D-Southeast Portland), tells WW, referring to the creation of the board years ago. But he adds the delay does not perturb him. “The delay is not the big challenge in my mind,” he says. “The challenge is, if it’s referred to the voters by a ballot measure, can we run a campaign that can pass it.”