Oregon’s gas-tax reckoning is about to arrive six months early — at least, if the courts don’t intervene.
The state House of Representatives gave final approval Monday to Senate Bill 1599, the most hotly-debated bill of this year’s session. By a 31-20 vote, the chamber approved speeding up a public decision on hikes to the state’s gas tax and some transportation related fees.
Voters had been scheduled to decide on those increases in November, after a Republican-led campaign collected enough signatures to force a referendum vote. Democrats, including Gov. Tina Kotek, have pressed to move the vote to May’s primary election ballot.
With Monday’s passage, the bill heads to Kotek, who is expected to sign it speedily. Republicans have vowed to sue. They argue Democrats are circumventing the legal referendum process and shortchanging citizen input.
The debate over SB 1599 stretches from questions about responsible public budgeting to accusations of cynical and calculating politics.
Democrats say it’s important for voters to decide soon on tax and fee hikes they passed in September in order to close a funding hole in the Oregon Department of Transportation budget. Those include a 6-cent gas tax increase, big increases to vehicle registration and titling fees, and a temporary doubling of a payroll tax that funds public transit.
While virtually no one expects the taxes to pass regardless of when voters decide, Democrats say having that answer in May rather than November will help the state move forward with a new transportation funding proposal.
“We cannot continue in this transportation limbo,” said state Rep. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove, chair of the House Transportation Committee. “Further delays will only do that.”
State Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, noted that ODOT has shed employees at a rapid clip as questions about the agency’s budget persist.
“Twenty percent of the desks at ODOT are vacant right now and more people are leaving every single day,” he said. ”If the question of this referral is left to fester for another nine months, I don’t know who’s going to be left.”
Republicans counter that the outcome of the vote won’t change regardless of when it happens. They say the bill’s true motivation is moving an unpopular gas tax passed by Democrats far from a November ballot in which many in their party – including Kotek – are seeking reelection.
Many said that moving the election would go directly against the will of the roughly 250,000 voters who signed a petition setting the vote for November.
“This isn’t just political maneuvering,” said state Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Scio, who helped lead the campaign that referred the tax increases to voters and is now running for governor. “It is a complete and total disdain for the people that you are supposed to represent.”
“This bill sends a message: When voters disagree with Salem, Salem changes the elections,” said state Rep. Dwayne Yunker, R-Grants Pass. “That should alarm every single citizen in this state.”
Some Democrats, including Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, have acknowledged that politics play a role in their push for the bill.
Even with SB 1599 passed, questions about the timing of the gas tax election will remain.
Secretary of State Tobias Read said last month that lawmakers should pass the bill by Feb. 25, if they hoped to move the gas tax vote without impacting voters. Democrats blew past that deadline last week, after a boycott by Republicans and disagreement in their own ranks helped delay its passage through the Senate.
In a memo last week, Read warned that each day of delay risked suppressing public debate in the May election. Chief among his concerns: Oregonians will have less time to collect the 500 signatures required to land statements in the state voter’s pamphlet for free.
“Every day that passes makes it more challenging for my office to provide Oregonians with a free alternative to paying a $1,200 fee,” Read wrote. “This could impact Oregonians’ ability to make an informed decision about the referendum and for proponents or opponents to make their voices heard.”
The next likely venue for debate: a courtroom. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, vowed last week that members of his party would file suit if Democrats passed SB 1599. House Republicans echoed the sentiment Monday.
“I still want this on the November ballot,” said state Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, “but I do believe that the only way we can get there is through the judicial department.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.