Oregon State Director Anthony Smith reports from Salem on the special session

After the Oregon House worked feverishly to pass Gov. Tina Kotek’s bill to raise taxes and fees to fund the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), HB 3991 has stalled in the Senate due to the absence of a senator who is experiencing medical complications following a recent surgical procedure.

His vote is needed to reach the three-fifths supermajority threshold for a bill that raises taxes, but that vote will have to wait until at least September 29, when the Senate reconvenes.

For more information on the Senate delay, OPB and The Oregonian have articles worth reading.

The Joint Special Session Committee On Transportation Funding met on Sunday, August 31, and after several hours of public testimony, the committee made some slight modifications to the bill. Most notably, the doubling of the statewide transit tax (the employee payroll tax) will now sunset after two years, meaning that on January 1, 2028, the tax rate will return to current rate of 0.1%.

This change reduced the overall revenue impact of the bill from $5.8 billion over 10 years to $4.3 billion over 10 years. And while that might have been enough of a concession to achieve the requisite 36 votes in the House, it did little to address NFIB’s concerns. Here is an excerpt from NFIB’s testimony – you can read the full version here.

There is broad agreement across the political spectrum that transportation is a legitimate purpose for spending taxpayer dollars, but the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has been plagued by financial mismanagement and has repeatedly failed to deliver on promises the legislature made to Oregonians in 2017. ODOT should be held accountable and earn back the trust of Oregonians before being entrusted with new revenue, especially when transportation-related cost pressures are an increasing challenge for small businesses.

The bill still contains all the other revenue-raising provisions highlighted in NFIB’s Transportation Action Alert, which is still live on NFIB.com, including:

— A 6-cent per gallon gas tax increase, from 40 cents to 46 cents. The state would receive 50% of the increase, counties would get 30% and cities would receive 20%.

— A $42 increase to vehicle registration fees, which now range from $126 to $156 depending on a car’s age and miles per gallon.

— A $30 additional fee for electric vehicles, which now cost $316 to register for two years.

— A $139 increase to the state’s title fee, which now ranges from $101 to $116 for gas cars or $192 for electric vehicles.

— Doubling (for two years) the current employee payroll tax for transit from 0.1% to 0.2%.

The Oregon House convened to debate and vote on the bill the following day, ironically choosing Labor Day to pass a tax increase on workers’ wages (albeit for just two years rather than in perpetuity.) One Democrat, Rep. Annessa Hartman (D-Oregon City) voted with the Republicans that were present in opposition to the bill (several members were excused). Rep. Cyrus Javadi (D-Tillamook) was the lone Republican (at the time) voting in favor, along with every other Democrat. He has since changed his party affiliation to Democrat.

When the Senate reconvenes on Monday, September 29, Democrats will need all 18 of their members to vote in favor of the measure, as there appears to be no support from Senate Republicans.