Governor Brown Vows to Move Past Failure of Measure 97

Up until Election Day, Governor Kate Brown was arguing with urgency that Measure 97 - the Oregon Business Tax Increase Initiative - needed to pass.

"Oregon is challenged in terms of our high school graduation rates," she said in August. "We want to make sure that all of our students graduate from high school with a plan for their future."

The measure would have helped address that problem by using money raised by imposing on companies a 2.5 percent tax on gross sales above $25 million for schools. Money raised would have also gone for health care and senior services.

Voters across the state rejected it resoundingly - 59 percent to 41 percent.

Governor Brown on Wednesday said that she will move forward and work with the legislature to address what she says are very real problems.

"If we expect to improve our dismal high school graduation rate, help more families achieve self-sufficiency, and keep Oregonians safe and healthy, we need stable and adequate revenue," she said.

"I will give priority to protecting services for children and helping lift families out of poverty. Given the severe constraints, we will still have to make a number of heartbreaking cuts."

Brown says that she will meet with legislative leaders soon and submit her budget proposal on December 1.