[BREAKING] Kotek’s Secret Campaign Against the Preschool for All Tax

A source from Multnomah County recently shared with PFA supporters troubling details about behind-the-scenes efforts by Governor Kotek to stop the collection of the income tax.

According to the anonymous source, the Governor has held a series of phone calls with County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (JVP). Kotek is urging her to suspend the collection of the Preschool for All (PFA) income tax for the next three to four years. Such a moratorium would likely destroy the program, which is still expanding and relies on steady funding to achieve complete universality.

Screenshot from Gov. Tina Kotek's Tuesday (6/16) press conference. (YouTube)

These meetings haven’t been limited to official business hours. Governor Kotek has reportedly called JVP during evenings and weekends, applying personal pressure to halt the voter-approved tax. Despite multiple requests, the Governor has refused to disclose who she’s consulting with regarding the suspension, only stating that it includes business associations and unnamed individuals tied to the Central City Task Force.

There’s now a formal letter from the Governor's office pressuring the County to pause tax collections. Chair Vega Pederson and her staff are drafting a response. Some inside the County are pushing for a public release of both letters, warning that even a temporary pause could amount to permanent damage.

The Preschool for All program, approved by voters and launched by the County, has quickly become a model for targeted, equitable early education. According to the latest data, 73% of children enrolled come from BIPOC families. Thirty-eight percent speak a language other than English at home, and 44 languages are spoken across enrolled families. PFA programs are heavily concentrated along the I-205 corridor and in North Portland, areas where educational investments have historically lagged.

Behind the scenes, the Governor is reportedly preparing legislation for the 2025 or 2026 session that would prohibit all new tax collections in Portland. Local legislators, when contacted, said they had not heard from the Governor and would not support such a bill, raising further questions about who is driving this agenda.

With pressure from the Governor, policy adjustments, such as indexing tax thresholds to inflation or slightly reducing tax rates, are under discussion. But the County economist has made it clear: to reach complete universality, the tax rates need to increase, not decrease.

This is more than a policy disagreement; it’s a power play by Portland’s business elite. The Governor’s backroom efforts to override a voter-approved program and sideline local leaders raise serious concerns about transparency and governance. If the state intervenes to stop Preschool for All, it will betray the families who depend on it and the public who voted for it.

With corporate Democrats like Kotek, who needs Republicans? They will allow business leaders to exploit and disregard the working class. The choice is clear: stand with children and working families, or cater to business interests that seek to write Portland’s future from behind closed doors.

[I’ll release more information as it becomes available. Stay tuned for updates.]