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As summer dwindles to a close, policymaking conversations in Salem are heating up as the Legislature takes up Governor Kotek’s transportation funding recommendations in a Special Session. HB 3991, formerly LC 2, would raise more than $4.3 billion over the next 10 years if passed into law. Aiming to fund transportation, the bill would raise gas taxes, vehicle registration fees, vehicle title fees and a statewide employee-paid payroll tax. The bill also contains language related to fiscal oversight and management at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and remedies an imbalance between freight and passenger revenue.
The Chamber has a long-standing position to support transportation infrastructure, specifically regional parity of such funding, which is necessary to move people and goods safely and efficiently in our region. However, we joined EDCO in a letter to oppose certain provisions of HB 3991, specifically those that seek to raise taxes on working Oregonians via a doubling of the employee-paid payroll tax.
The Special Session has not been smooth sailing with procedural delays and absent members contributing to a lack of quorum. The public engagement process revealed a deep dissatisfaction with the proposal and a majority of the testimony opposed to the bill. Ultimately the Joint Committee on Transportation Funding and the House passed the bill with two amendments brought forth by Speaker Julie Fahey, one of which sunsets the doubled payroll tax on January 1, 2028.
The Senate is poised to complete the Special Session and pass the bill into law, however, is delayed in doing so while a member of the Senate Democrat caucus recovers from an illness. The Senate is expected to take up the debate in mid-September and Governor Kotek announced a delay in ODOT layoffs that the bill aims to curb.
The Chamber has continued to advocate for a measured approach based on the core principle of modernizing Oregon’s transportation system and planning for sustainability, while balancing the financial realities of Oregon’s residents and workforce. Click HERE to read our full letter, and additional updates will follow as the Special Session continues.
