The Oregon Constitution is simple and clear: A three-fifths majority of each house of the Legislature must agree to any legislation for “raising revenue.”

Yet, that message has become muddied in the last few years, so much so that a group of Senate Republicans has introduced a measure that would amend the state constitution to spell out what “raising revenue” is. If Senate Joint Resolution 201 makes it through both houses, voters would decide its fate at the next regular general election.

Things reached a low point during the 2017 legislative session. Democratic lawmakers believed they needed to raise substantial amounts of cash, and they knew they lacked the necessary supermajority in both houses required to do so.

They got a break from the Legislature’s lawyers, who said that if rates on an existing tax go up or the group subject to a tax is expanded, neither action qualifies as “raising revenue.” With that pronouncement, the need for a supermajority vanished.

That led directly to the passage of Senate Bill 28, which changed the way some corporate income was accounted for, raising more income for state coffers in the process. The measure failed to get a supermajority in either house of the Legislature, but Oregon businesses will be required to pay just the same.

Nor will the 2018 session be better, apparently. A carbon-pricing bill, in fact, will raise revenue to be spent by the Legislature, but the bill says it “isn’t a bill for raising revenue.” Just think how surprised lawmakers will be when those unexpected, nonrevenue dollars start flowing in.

Voters will have the chance to clear up these shenanigans if SJR 201 is referred to the people. It clearly states what “raising revenue” is in language even the most cash-hungry lawmakers can understand. Oregonians deserve that opportunity.