Legislature begins talks on transportation package
A bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers has begun to meet regularly to work out the details of a transportation package that would likely include improvements or additions to Oregon infrastructure and a likely increase to the state's gas tax.
The plan has been a priority for legislative leaders since the beginning of the 2015 session of the Oregon Legislature. No bill has been introduced, and no specifics have been proposed.
However, Speaker of the House Tina Kotek told reporters Monday that a group has started meeting informally twice per week at 5 p.m. to work out what a package would look like.
The group includes Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney, as well as the following group of legislators: Rep. Caddy McKeown, D-Coos Bay; Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton; Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario; Rep. John Davis, R-Wilsonville, Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, and Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg.
Talks around the plan were originally fraught, as Republicans insisted they wouldn't support any infrastructure package that includes a gas tax if Democrats also pushed a bill that created a low-carbon fuel standard for gas and diesel sold in Oregon.
That bill, Senate Bill 324, looks poised to pass in the House and has already passed in the Senate. Some Republicans have insisted it contains a "hidden" gas tax, and they won't support passing two gas tax increases in one session.
SB 324 does not actually contain any taxes, but there is a possibility it could result in private companies raising the price of gas several years from now. Experts said it would be very hard to predict but could range from 4 cents per gallon to 19 cents.
However, California has a similar law, and it has resulted in a price increase of a half-cent per gallon, according to experts from that state.
Early in the session, Republican leaders said Democrats could not have their support on a transportation bill if they pushed the low-carbon fuel standard issue.
Democratic leaders insisted the two bills are not connected, but House Republican Leader Mike McLane said in January that both will raise the price of gasoline and will therefore be connected in the minds of voters.
"You can't have everything you want," said Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli at the time. He was very clear: Pass the carbon bill, and the GOP won't play ball on raising the gas tax.
It appears Republicans aren't following through on that threat, as four of them are involved in the talks to create the transportation package.
If they did decide to withhold their votes, it would derail the entire plan.
Any vote that raises taxes needs more than just a majority vote. It needs a "super majority," which means 18 votes in the Senate and 36 votes in the House — one more than the Democrats have in the House.
At least one Republican will have to vote for the gas tax in the House for it to pass.
In the Senate, there is no guarantee all the Democrats will like the transportation package. If they lose even one of their members' vote, they will need a Republican vote as well.
The last time the Oregon Legislature passed a bill like this was in 2009. The Jobs and Transportation Act, raised $300 million per year for highway projects across Oregon.
House Bill 2001 increased Oregon's gas tax by 6 cents per gallon (bringing it up to 30 cents), raised DMV fees and increased weight-mile taxes on semi-trucks to pay for 37 projects statewide.
Among those projects were the Newberg-Dundee Bypass, the Sunset Corridor on Hwy 212 and the Woodburn Interchange on Interstate 5.
It received bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, as seven of the 24 Republicans in the House of Representatives and six of the 12 in the Senate voted in favor of the bill. Several Democrats in the House voted against it.
Republicans are still asking Democrats to halt work on the carbon-standard bill, but Kotek said she plans to continue moving it forward as scheduled.
That bill is actually an extension of a bill that originally pass in 2009, the same year as the Jobs and Transportation Act. Republicans didn't support it then either, but that did not stop them from collaborating on the infrastructure bill.
hhoffman@statesmanjournal.com, (503) 399-6719 or follow at twitter.com/HannahKHoffman