Gov. Tina Kotek has endorsed a version of State Sen. Jeff Golden’s proposal to withhold $1 billion of next year’s expected $1.64 billion kicker tax rebate to support firefighting efforts in Oregon, (“
Divert $1 billion of kicker rebates from taxpayers to wildfire efforts, Gov. Tina Kotek urges lawmakers,
” May 20). The $1 billion one-time withholding represents the piece of the kicker slated for “high income earners” and could be put into an interest-bearing fund that would support firefighting efforts for years to come.
Two things are certain: fires will come to Oregon, and federal assistance from the current administration will not. I encourage support of Golden’s proposal as endorsed by Kotek. Oregon needs a plan to cover wildfire costs, and this sounds like a good one.
Robert Owen, Portland
To read more letters to the editor, go to
oregonlive.com/opinion
.
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Readers respond: Kicker diversion could let Oregon fight fires
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