Board reviews competing transportation proposals, approves signing letter for Tualatin Valley Highway capital ask

Washington County government relations staff summarized the current transportation package work, noting a draft committee framework called the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package (TRIP 2025) and a House Republican counterproposal released recently. Staff outlined the fiscal scales in each framework and discussed distribution formulas for the State Highway Trust Fund.

The committee framework (TRIP 2025) was described as projecting roughly $1.9 billion per biennium in new revenue, with $1.7 billion to the State Highway Trust Fund, distributed with a 50/30/20 split among state, counties and cities/ODOT. The House Republican counterproposal was described as a $730 million package with reallocations, spending cuts and cost savings; commissioners discussed tradeoffs and whether either approach aligned with Washington County’s established priorities for multimodal funding and a 50/30/20 split.

Following the briefing, staff requested the board sign a letter of support from the county for the Tualatin Valley Highway Project’s capital construction ask. The coalition supporting the project asked the county to sign on to a $50,000,000 state request. The chair asked for a “thumbs up” to affix signatures; the transcript records four affirmative responses. Commissioners also gave verbal agreement to affix signatures to a separate packet letter containing three lottery requests for capital construction (the county’s lottery asks placed in the commissioners’ packet), and staff said the capital construction hearing for lottery funding was scheduled for the ninth.

Commissioners emphasized they will continue to advocate according to the county’s Board of Principles and Priorities, including support for multimodal investments and a 50/30/20 distribution to local governments. Staff said they will continue outreach and coordination with legislators and local partners.