By John A. Charles, Jr.
John Charles submitted written Testimony to the Oregon Legislature on March 2, 2026 in Opposition to SB 1511-A to increase the top estate tax rate from 16% to 19.9%.
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March 2, 2026
House Revenue Committee State
Legislature
Salem, OR
Re: Opposition to S81511-A
Dear Committee members:
Recently Gov. Kotek created a Prosperity Council. She understands that in order for Oregon to be a prosperous state, we need institutional structures that reward hard work, savings, and the entrepreneurial spirit.
Oregon’s estate tax does the opposite. It gives successful people one more reason to move to another state.
Moreover, people who have enough assets to be affected by the tax also have other attributes that are valuable. They are volunteers for service organizations, reading tutors in schools, and donors to charitable causes.
We have thousands of people like this in the state and we could use thousands more. But Oregon legislators have preferred to chase them away with a punitive tax.
This is self-defeating. We can’t tax ourselves to a better future. Sincerely,
John A. Charles, Jr.
President & CEO
John A. Charles, Jr. is President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization. He researches, writes, and presents testimony and analysis on state and local issues important to the freedom and opportunity of all Oregonians.
