Salem-based unions filed a ballot initiative Thursday, Oct. 8, to tax Oregon's wealthiest households and cut taxes for lower-income residents.

The Fight For Our Future coalition includes the Oregon Education Association (OEA), the American Federation of Teachers Oregon, the Service Employees International Union Oregon State Council (SEIU Oregon) and the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The coalition calls the proposal the "Financial Assets Tax on Multimillionaires," as first reported by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The measure would impose a 1% to 1.2% tax on stocks, bonds, bank accounts, private equity, hedge funds and cryptocurrency held by Oregonians with a net worth of $30 million or more.

The rate would rise above 1% for those worth more than $50 million or $100 million. The coalition estimates about 4,500 Oregon households would be affected.

Advocates project the tax would generate a net $1.5 billion per two-year budget cycle. Those figures come from the coalition's own analysis of 2023 state tax data, not an independent fiscal review.

The initiative also includes a 30% refundable state income tax credit for single filers earning less than $45,000 and joint filers earning less than $90,000. Smaller credits would extend to single filers earning up to $50,000 and joint filers earning up to $100,000. The coalition estimates more than 1.3 million Oregon taxpayers, about 58% of all filers, would benefit. The credits would cost an estimated $1 billion per two-year cycle.

Enrique Farrera, president of the Oregon Education Association, said in a statement that working families shoulder a growing burden while the wealthiest Oregonians accumulate more wealth. "While working families are being asked to do more with less, the richest Oregonians have more wealth than ever," Farrera said.

Candice Williams, executive director of For All Families Oregon Action, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle the coalition chose a ballot initiative to pressure lawmakers ahead of the 2027 legislative session. Williams said the coalition has asked the Legislature multiple times to address child care, health care and school funding without results.

The push comes as Oregon faces a projected $1.3 billion cost over four years to maintain its Medicaid system after the 2025 federal tax and spending law. State health officials told the Oregon Senate Health Care Committee in September 2026 that roughly 200,000 Oregonians could lose Medicaid coverage as the federal law takes effect.

Oregon voters rejected a different tax proposal in 2024. Measure 118 would have imposed a 3% tax on businesses with sales over $25 million a year. The new initiative targets individual financial assets rather than businesses or property such as farms.

No response from business groups or fiscal conservatives had appeared in public statements as of Thursday, Oct. 8. The initiative was announced the same day.

To reach the November 2028 ballot, the coalition must first gather 1,000 sponsorship signatures. After that, it needs valid signatures equal to 6% of total votes cast in the November 2026 governor's race. The Oregon Capital Chronicle reported that threshold is likely to exceed 100,000 signatures. Residents can track the initiative's progress through the Oregon Secretary of State's elections page.