Oregon voters fed up with the tax tricks the Legislature pulls may get some relief thanks to a lawsuit brought by state Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas. Boquist filed a lawsuit against Gov. Kate Brown and the leaders of the Legislature for a bill that he claims raised taxes improperly.

Boquist raises an important legal question that needs resolution.

Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 25 in May 1996. It amended the state’s Constitution to require a three-fifths majority in the Legislature to pass revenue-raising bills.

But there has been a lot of debate in Oregon about what qualifies as a revenue-raising bill. Is a change in an existing tax rate a revenue-raising bill? Is a bill that expands the types of businesses a tax applies to a revenue-raising bill? Is a bill that includes language that its intent is not to raise revenue, even though it raises revenue, a revenue-raising bill? The Legislature has passed bills like those or debated them. It seems like a trick to claim voters didn’t intend for those bills to be considered revenue-raising.

Boquist’s lawsuit is about Senate Bill 1528. It passed in the 2018 regular session. The bill essentially disconnected the state’s tax system from the federal system. That stopped the state from replicating changes in the federal tax code that gave 20 percent tax exemptions to some businesses. The worry was that if the state did nothing it could lose some $250 million in revenue. Passing SB 1528 collects that money. SB 1528 passed the Legislature with less than a three-fifths vote.

There’s an argument to be made that passing the bill was the right thing to do. But should it be able to be passed without a three-fifths vote? Boquist was right to seek more clarity in the courts.