The moment is upon us. The time to act is immediately.
On October 19, county clerks begin sending ballots to Oregonians and votes will start being cast.
From now through the November 8 election, NFIB/Oregon is calling on its members and other small-business owners to hit the gas pedal on educating the people around them about the perils of Measure 97. There is no better group of people who can do the job.
A study by the Pew Research Center on the negative and positive views people hold on various American institutions found small business ranked first—39 percentage points higher than labor unions, 46 points higher than large corporations, and 49 points higher than banks and financial institutions.
The most common public affairs and political activities in which small employers engage, according to the NFIB Research Foundation, include initiating discussions with employees regarding the impact of a policy issue on the firm.
NFIB is a coalition member of the No on 97 campaign, which has some ready-to-go resources you can access now. Click the ‘Get The Facts’ tab on the No on 97 website, then click on the ‘Downloads’ link, where you’ll find email text, window signs, and other communications vehicles. Here are five to get you started:
“The power of the small-business vote is second to none in strength,” said NFIB/Oregon State Director Anthony K. Smith, “and it comes almost entirely from our superior grassroots efforts—Members spreading the word; members educating. They’re believed because they’re held in the highest regard in their communities. We need to do more than just defeat Measure 97, we need to defeat it by such a big margin, its backers will think twice before bringing back this bad idea.”
