Less than a week after a Republican-led campaign put new money for state roads on ice, lawmakers are in a partisan squabble over how to fund winter road maintenance throughout Oregon.
A trio of GOP lawmakers on Wednesday said state emergency funding might be necessary if the Oregon Department of Transportation finds itself tapped out this winter. Those legislators – Reps. Mark Owens, R-Crane, Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, and Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte – all sit on the legislative Emergency Board that approves such spending.
“Across Oregon, rainstorms and years of deferred maintenance have led to worsening road conditions, including potholes, failing shoulders, damaged guardrails, and drainage problems,” read a statement urging ODOT to be prepared to seek emergency money. “With winter approaching, lawmakers warn that conditions will quickly become more dangerous without immediate action.”
The release immediately generated outrage from Democrats, who were incredulous that Republicans would paint road funding as an emergency after ensuring new money would not flow to ODOT beginning in January, as scheduled.
“It’s rich to see Republicans suddenly discover that safe roads require money,” state Rep. Travis Nelson, D-Portland, said in a statement released alongside three other House Democrats on Wednesday. “The very lawmakers now urging ODOT to seek emergency funding were happy to support referring stable transportation funding to the ballot, putting road maintenance on ice for years.”
The latest back-and-forth centers on a transportation funding bill Democrats passed in a special session earlier in September.
Throughout the year, the party had insisted that funding problems at ODOT would necessitate major layoffs and significant cuts to services if not addressed. Democrats ultimately approved a package of tax increases that would close the funding gap, fund state and local road projects, and provide a boost to public transit agencies.
Throughout the session, most legislative Republicans vocally disagreed with Democrats’ basic premise that new money was needed.
In press conferences and floor speeches, they proposed paying for ODOT’s core maintenance services by pulling state funding from public transit, electric vehicle rebates and other areas.
Many Oregonians appear to share the GOP’s skepticism.
Last week, a Republican-led campaign submitted nearly 200,000 signatures that are likely to force a vote next November on whether the tax hikes can take effect. That means no new money is coming to ODOT in the short term – a development that has alarmed Democrats.
“My colleagues are correct that adequate funding is essential for our roads, bridges, and transit, but that’s why transportation needs a dedicated, stable funding source,” state Sen. Wlnsvey Campos, D-Aloha, said in a release Wednesday. “They’ve rejected that responsible approach and now are declaring an ‘emergency’ of their own making. Our transportation system deserves sustainable, ongoing, adequate resources, not a sudden spike in funds when lawmakers realize they’ve gone too far in cutting off support.”
It’s not unprecedented for the state to use one-time cash for winter road work.
In late 2023, lawmakers reached a deal to set aside $19 million to ensure roads were clear and to pay for other upkeep.
Republicans told OPB on Wednesday they had not had a moment of clarity over road safety. Owens and McLane, two of the lawmakers calling for emergency funding, said they always supported winter road maintenance – they just disagreed with the tax hikes Democrats used to pay for them.
“The Democrat supermajorities have created the narrative that there were only two choices: Give us more money or we can’t keep roads safe,” said McLane, who signed the petition to suspend new transportation taxes. “I believe there are more choices.”
Both McLane and Owens said they support the idea of shuffling money within ODOT to support maintenance work like plowing and paving roads and highways. Such a shift might require legislative approval during next year’s month-long legislative session.
What’s still unclear is how much of a funding hole ODOT currently has.
The agency says it has more than 600 vacant full-time positions, following a rush of departures since July. It has not offered an updated picture of how much money it might need to avoid layoffs or fund basic services during the current two-year budget.
Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said last week that the agency “has a significant budget deficit that must be urgently balanced. Cuts to crucial transportation programs are financially unavoidable, and the Governor will need to review a potential layoff process again.”
“The Governor’s guiding principle,” the statement said, “is to avoid, as much as possible, immediate service cuts that will impact Oregonians.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.