Ellen Michaelson

Not mention that many of us "own" more than one bike--we would then have
to "register" each bike? Not very likely. Cumbersome, not enforceable,
and toward what end? If the goal(part of it) is to decrease bike theft,
then perhaps they should give the thieves a hefty fine instead of fining
the riders.

Ellen

Jerald M Powell wrote:
> Jonathan... Thanks for bringing up fiscal impact. If motorvehicle
> licensing is an adequate model, it's unlikely that the revenue gained
> from the proposed fee would more than cover the cost of administering
> registration. Since there seem to be no particular benefits to be
> gained, I'd then guess that this proposal will earn a early death.
> That said, it does bring up an interesting question... like what's a
> bike? and how do you define bike ownership? and what about "use" or
> "riding". I myself would happily fire anyone representing me who
> wanted to open this can of worms. An who is the yahoo from Happy
> valley? I can understand the cranky old trooper from Gold Beach...
> even the reactionary from Medford (in spite of its being a community
> that benefits from a healthy local bike industry)... but "Happy"
> Valley? What's that about? Doesn't anyone there vote?
>
> Jerry
>
> On Mar 8, 2009, at 6:53 PM, Jonathan Maus wrote:
>
>> howdy,
>>
>> If anyone is interested in more details/analysis/discussion of this
>> proposed bill, check out BikePortland.
>>
>> we broke the news on Friday and then I published a f/u story based on
>> a conversation I had with Rep. Wayne Krieger. There have been over
>> 250 comments on the two stories combined... and stories in The
>> Oregonian, on KATU, and on KGW so far.
>>
>> here's my initial story - http://tinyurl.com/dhtevq
>>
>> and here's the conversation with Krieger - http://tinyurl.com/bcjdqh
>>
>> oh, and if you're wondering.. I think it's highly unlikely to
>> actually pass... for a lot of reasons you can read in the comments on
>> bikeportland.
>>
>> cheers.
>>
>> --Jonathan
>> _____________________
>> Jonathan Maus
>> Publisher/Editor-in-chief
>> BikePortland.org
>>
>> http://www.BikePortland.org
>> News Tipline/Cell: (503) 706-8804
>> jonathan@bikeportland.org
>> http://twitter.com/bikeportland
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 8, 2009, at 6:40 PM, Melissa Boyd wrote:
>>
>>> I personally believe we should tax luxuries and behaviors we want to
>>> discourage, and offer tax breaks to encourage behavior that benefits
>>> our society.
>>>
>>> Those of us with thousand-dollar bikes can afford to pay a "luxury"
>>> tax for the privelage of riding. However, I really believe we are in
>>> the minority. Most bikes are owned by kids, students who ride them
>>> to school, responsible adults who are saving gas or exercising for
>>> their health, and low-income people who can't afford cars. A tax of
>>> this sort is going to hurt the people who need help the most.
>>>
>>> Please take this opportunity to write to your state legislators, and
>>> let them know how you feel about it. Talking to each other at OBRA
>>> is interesting, but not terribly productive.
>>>
>>> Here is a link to find the email addresses of your Oregon
>>> legislators: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
>>> Here's a list of all the Oregon representatives
>>> :
>>> http://www.leg.state.or.us/servlet/XSLT?URL=members.xml&xslURL=members.xsl&member-type=representative
>>>
>>>
>>> - Melissa
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OBRA mailing list
>>> obra@list.obra.org
>>> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
>>> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
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