Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon voters passed two tax hikes Tuesday in a special election. 

Measure 66 passed with 54 percent. Measure 67 passed with 53 percent.

Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

Oregon voters decided to tax businesses and people making over $125,000 a year, to the tune of about three-quarters of a billion dollars.

The money is already budgeted to go for jobs at schools, law enforcement agencies and health services across the state.

Pat McCormick, who campaigned to stop the new taxes, warns they'll put a brake on the economy and cost jobs in the private sector.

Pat McCormick: "Hopefully adults will be in the room when the legislature meets next week and they'll begin to consider the effects these measures will have on our ability to recover lost jobs."

McCormick says the legislature needs to come up with another, fairer way of filling state coffers.

Pat McCormick: "If we had more money than they did, we would have been in a better position. They were outspending us more than two to one. That kind of advantage, which the public employee unions were able to use against us, made it virtually impossible for the business community to get its message out effectively."

Supporters of the new taxes say voters decided to protect education.