Food for Thought

The Real Story About the Dairy

The No on 66 & 67 Campaign sent thousands of letters from a Tillamook Dairy farmer urging Oregonians to vote no on Measures 66 & 67. Like every other part of the "no" campaign,  it is filled with misstatements, fraught with exaggerations, and fabricated from half truths. Here is the real story.

The Real Facts About Carol Marie Leuthold’s Dairy
This weekend, many Oregonians received a letter that claimed to be from an Oregon dairy farmer opposing Measures 66 & 67. This letter was both factually inaccurate and deeply misleading.

The letter claims “Smaller businesses like ours will be forced to lay off workers,” but the truth is that Carol Marie Leuthold’s business – like nearly every other farm in Oregon – will not be significantly affected by Measures 66 & 67. Leuthold’s dairy is an LLC, thus the entirety of Leuthold’s business tax burden under the new law will be $150 per year. Indeed, under Measure 67, 88% of businesses in the state will pay just $150.

There is little doubt Leuthold can afford $150 to preserve Oregon’s vital services. Her profile on the Tillamook Cheese Fan Club states, “Leuthold and her husband, Dan, have a serious case of the travel bug. The couple has roamed around the world, including stops in Brazil, Italy, Germany and Alaska. They touch down in Switzerland, Dan’s familial homeland, every four years or so. This past year … Carol Marie flew to the South of France and Italy to take cooking classes.”

Family farms are the quintessential small businesses in Oregon, and Measure 67, the corporate tax measure, was designed to protect small businesses. Under the measures, over 92% of farms in the state will pay no more than $150 – just like Carol Leuthold.

The truth is that Measures 66 & 67 are good for all of Oregon, but they are especially good for rural Oregon. Rural Oregonians are far more likely to rely on the Oregon Health Plan. Seniors and people with disabilities living in rural Oregon rely more heavily on long-term care programs – in-home care, assisted living, and nursing home care. These measures would help to preserve these vital services.

Measures 66 & 67 protect those who have been hit hardest by the economic crisis – seniors, children, and the unemployed – without putting more of a burden on Oregon’s middle class families.

More information about Measures 66 & 67