Oops, that should be 10/15!

Shout out to Bold and Coffee Books, Bernstein Bagels, Portland Businesses for All, Division Midway Alliance, 82nd & Sandy Business Alliance, Midway Business Association, Parkrose Coffee, Next Up, Imagine Black, PROTEC17, CPPW, MusicOregon, Welcome Home, Jobs with Justice, and everyone else.

From accountants, to musicians, coffee and bagel shops, artists, business alliances, unions, faith leaders, and experts, we heard overwhelmingly supportive testimony for the Fair Share Tax today. It was loud and clear that Portlanders are ready for City Council to pass this, now let's get it done.

It was such an honor to join them and hear them directly. I’m looking forward to working with them to bring some fresh ideas to the Peoples’ House.

Really inspired by this conversation. So exciting to see this bold proposal gaining support at the local level.

I don’t usually livethread CoW, but this is a big day for all of us that care about fighting inequality and fighting for working people. Livethread starts at 9:30 AM and I hope I see you at the rally beforehand at 9 AM on the steps of City Hall!

Let's support the small businesses that make Portland special, not the mega corporations that funnel billions of dollars out of our community every year. Also f*ck Live Nation in particular.

Tonight’s meeting is POSTPONED via announcement from co-chairs. Stay tuned for updated agenda for another date.

Tonight’s meeting is POSTPONED via announcement from co-chairs. Stay tuned for updated agenda for another date.

Tonight’s meeting is POSTPONED via announcement from co-chairs. Stay tuned for updated agenda for another date.

It is in all of our best interests to root out corporate greed and address egregious pay inequality. We'll be hearing testimony in the Committee of the Whole tomorrow. I hope you will join myself and dozens of other Portlanders to share that workers deserve better than the status quo.

The CEO to worker pay ratio has skyrocketed over the decades. In 1965, CEO's made 21 times the average worker. Now? CEOs are paid 325 times as much as typical workers.

And where the business is HQ’d is irrelevant for tax obligation purposes. Are banks and insurance companies going to stop serving their customers in Portland because of this tax? No, they will not, because that would be a violation of their fiduciary responsibility.

The Fair Share Tax will raise taxes on 405 publicly traded corporations that pay their CEO's 50 times or more their median worker. It will also strike the Business License Tax for 18,000 local small businesses, raising the threshold from $75,000 to $500,000. It's time we rebalance the scales.

This is a tax on profits. Why would a profitable firm leave a market because they a little less profitable after a tax? That would be an unsound business decision.

More than half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Starbuck's CEO took home $31 million - 1,794 times more their median worker. Live Nation's CEO made $33 million - 976 times the median pay. The system has been rigged against the working class, but the Fair Share Tax starts to change that.

I think it’s fair to say that if we can scratch together $120 million right now and another $275 over 20 years then we can forestall the closure of these schools, and at least buy ourselves some time. That’s the claim I’m making. It’s a question of priorities.