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When Steve Miller was diagnosed with cancer, he began thinking about what will happen to his Portland hardware business after he dies.

鈥淢y dream is to sell the company to my employees,鈥� said Miller, the owner of .

He soon realized, he said, that could never happen with Oregon鈥檚 existing estate tax. Instead, his heirs would risk losing the business because of all the money they would have to pay the state.

Supporters of the estate tax say it affects only millionaires who can afford it.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of hooey,鈥� said Miller, 65. 鈥淚 am far from a millionaire.鈥�

Miller said that鈥檚 why he supports Measure 84, which would phase out Oregon鈥檚 estate and inheritance taxes over the next three years.

鈥淭he money all goes into the general fund where, with all due respect, they just (fritter) it away,鈥� he said.

State Rep. Vickie Berger, R-Salem, who co-chairs the House Revenue Committee, said people should be aware that the general fund helps pay for public education and other programs they might not want cut.

鈥淚t will reduce the amount of money we have to spend on other things, but I am perfectly willing to let Oregonians make up their own minds on this issue,鈥� Berger said.

Estate and inheritance taxes make up about 1.5 percent of the state鈥檚 general fund 鈥� or approximately $100 million 鈥� per biennium. Measure 84 would phase them out over three years, cutting them by a third each year.

鈥淭his is a soft landing,鈥� said Kevin Mannix, a Republican who ran for governor in 2002 and 2006 and is now heading the campaign for Measure 84 as part of his political action organization, Common Sense For Oregon.

Berger said supporters of Measure 84 generate a lot of unnecessary fear.

鈥淧eople are saying, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e going to break up the family farm!鈥� Well, we鈥檝e already taken care of that,鈥� she said.

The law includes an exemption for estates where ownership of a farm or forestland represents 50 percent or more of the gross value of the estate. The land must also be bequeathed to a family member. That family member needs to use the land for farming or forestry for at least five of the first eight years after inheriting it.

鈥淭echnically, there may be protections,鈥� Mannix said. 鈥淧ractically, they are ethereal.鈥�

He pointed out that nearly a decade is needed to qualify for the exemption.

鈥淚f you a miss a day, there鈥檚 no credit,鈥� he said. 鈥淏esides, guess what. Because it鈥檚 a credit, the Legislature can take it away.鈥�

Scott Moore, the communications director of Our Oregon, the organization opposing Measure 84, writes Mannix鈥檚 warning off as fear mongering. The problem with the measure in general, he said, is that 鈥渋t preys on people鈥檚 most basic fears.鈥�

Conservatives have expertly manipulated the very language surrounding the tax, Moore said 鈥� changing it from an inheritance tax to a 鈥渄eath tax.鈥� What鈥檚 really at stake, he said, are programs that matter to Oregonians.

鈥淚t’s about giving Oregonians a concrete choice between funding schools or doling out a tax break that only benefits 2 percent of the population,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淲e have to let people know what鈥檚 at stake here.鈥�

Miller said family businesses and the employees they hire are at stake. He wouldn鈥檛 mind so much, he added, if the limit were raised to estates of $3 million or $4 million so that only bona fide millionaires were affected.

鈥淏ut you buy so much as a second house and, congratulations, you鈥檙e in the death pool,鈥� he said.

Mannix said a lot of people have estates that qualify for the tax, but their money is not sitting in the bank. It is tied up in buildings, equipment and inventory.

鈥淧eople with movable assets can go somewhere else,鈥� he said.

Most estates that get taxed in Oregon are worth far less than $3 million, Mannix said.

鈥淚n the last five years, 93 percent of the filings for the estate tax didn鈥檛 qualify for the federal estate tax,鈥� he added.

Mannix claimed the measure would enable employers to hire 30,000 to 40,000 more employees if it were to pass, but he worries about its chances with public employee unions organized against it.

鈥淭hey have a lot more money than we do,鈥� he said.

Berger said she understands people鈥檚 frustrations. However, she said she would have preferred to amend inheritance taxes in the Legislature, where lawmakers could have made precise and surgical adjustments rather than going after the whole concept with a wrecking ball.

鈥淭his is not what I would have proposed,鈥� Berger said.

Miller, whose cancer has been in remission for the past year, said he just doesn鈥檛 trust the people in state government anymore.

鈥淭he death tax is just one more way to feed the coffers,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ho knows where the money goes? It鈥檚 time to take control.鈥�