August 1, 2022 3:40 a.m.

Last week, four state Republican lawmakers launched a ballot measure, asking voters to sign and support a petition for a constitutional amendment that would freeze the property tax assessment of a primary residence in the year in which a senior homeowner reaches age 65.

Senators Bill Kennemer of Oregon City and Kim Thatcher of Keizer, along with Representatives Cedric Hayden of Fall Creek and Raquel Moore-Green of Salem say Oregon consistently ranks as one of the most expensive states in the nation for seniors to retire. A release said that is given the high cost of housing and the fact that Oregon taxes senior retirement and pension incomes.

In 2019, House Joint Resolution 25 was sponsored by Hayden, who is now the political action committee director for the Committee to Pass the Oregon Senior Property Tax Freeze Act. The release said it was part of a larger tax package drafted by senate and house Republicans aimed at bringing down the high cost of living for working families and small business owners. Hayden said COVID and supply chain and inflation issues created a situation that has devastated working Oregonians and seniors, particularly those on fixed incomes. Hayden said, “HJR 25 was blocked by the majority party, so we’re going to find another way to get this to the people of Oregon on their ballots”.

The release said to quality for the ballot title, petitioners must submit 1,000 valid signatures and go through the ballot titling process with the Secretary of State’s Elections Division. Upon achieving a ballot title, the measure will need valid signatures equaling eight percent of the total ballots cast in the upcoming 2022 gubernatorial election to quality the measure for voter consideration in 2024.

Hayden said when the issue was polled in 2019, 79 percent of Oregonians stated that they would support the measure.

The committee expects to turn in the signatures to quality for the title later this fall so that petitioners can have the full ballot title ready for signature gathering in early 2023.