I'm sympathetic with this argument. Supporters of Measure 97 should admit up front that some prices will rise for items produced by the companies that are affected. I'm not sure that $100,000 gross income is really analogous to the $25 Million+ in sales by corporations, though (fewer than 1% of all registered companies in Oregon have that level of gross sales). In your case, wouldn't 2.5% of 100,000 be $2,500? Wouldn't that leave  $17,500 of net profit for the year? (Feel free to correct me. I'm just thinking these things through.) 

I disagree about the chances of any kind of sales tax passing, though. Sales taxes don't win elections.  It's been tried. A sales tax is like saving money for retirement by taking it out of your income yourself and putting it in a separate account and actually leaving it there. (Very hard!) Measure 97 is like having your employer deduct your savings from your paycheck with other deductions. We all know which works better.