those choices without me actually handling the money. And so I'm still able to put measures on the ballot, I just have to do it in a sort of round-about way." Opponents Measure 59 is opposed by the Defend Oregon, which includes the American Heart Association, 1000 Friends of Oregon, AARP Oregon, Children First for Oregon, and others. Arguments against Measure 59 Notable arguments that have been made against Measure 59 include: "There are many good wealthy folks who will not suffer with the failure of Measure 59. Society as a whole, however, will suffer mightily if it passes", said Gary Stutzman of the Hillsboro Argus. Because the measure would reduce overall tax revenues for the state, it would reduce the amount of money available for the state's most vulnerable populations, who rely on government programs for various types of assistance. For the same reason, state spending on public safety programs would likely have to be reduced. The $1.1 billion (or $1.3 billion) cost estimate is equivalent to the total funding that Oregon's public universities will receive from the state in the current biennium or to cutting the salaries of all Oregon K-12 public school teachers by 70 percent. In addition to not benefiting a majority of taxpayers, Measure 59 actually increases taxes on about 120,000 people, mostly retirees, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Donors opposing Measure 59 Defend Oregon, as a committee, is fighting seven different ballot measures, and supporting two others. As a result, it is not possible to discern how much of its campaign spending is going specifically to defeat Measure 58. Altogether, the group has raised $9 million in 2008. Major donations to the Defend Oregon group as of October 23 include: $5.2 million from the Oregon Education Association., $1.2 million from SEIU. $450,000, American Federation of Teachers $600,000, AFSCME. $100,000 from School Employees Exercising Democracy (SEED) $100,000 from the AFL-CIO. $50,000 from Oregon AFSCME Council 75. Petition drive history The office of the Oregon Secretary of State announced on June 16, 2008 that its unofficial signature verification process showed that the initiative's supporters had turned in 83,136 valid signatures, versus a requirement of 82,769 signatures. This represented a validity rate of 64.76% calculated over the 128,380 signatures turned in. The measure formally qualified for the ballot on August 2., A union-funded watchdog group asked the Oregon Secretary of State to conduct an