"There is no way to spin away the fact that this tax will hurt Oregon corporations and the Oregon economy."

That's not a fact, it's an opinion.  M97 will raise taxes on _some_ Oregon C corporations -- not nonprofits, not pass-throughs, not proprietors.  Those same corporations used to pay a lot more in taxes than they do now.  Why shouldn't Umpqua, using your example, pay 5 percent of _net_ income to support the Oregon economy.  That doesn't sound outrageous to me, bearing in mind that their senior management team probably takes home more than $12 million in bonuses and perks.  

Kendall will probably eat some of the tax and pass along some of it.  I'm not concerned that the cost of cars will go up 1.25 percent (if they pass along half).  Who would notice?

Grocers are another story.  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a proposal next February to reduce the M97 tax on food to help that industry.  M97 is just the first step in building an adequately funded education system.