Deschutes County hears 2025 legislative review; transportation funding, wildfire and water rules flagged as priorities

Doug Riggs, speaking on behalf of Deschutes County, reviewed major outcomes of the 2025 Oregon legislative session during the Board of Commissioners’ Aug. 4 meeting.

Riggs told commissioners that the dominant theme of the session was ‘‘current service level,’’ meaning the Legislature largely maintained the status quo instead of approving broad reforms. He said that produced mixed results for county priorities: some targeted successes and several significant outstanding questions.

Riggs said transportation was the session’s high-profile failure. Negotiations collapsed late in the process over tolling authority, project labor and other items. He described House Bill 2017 (the 2017 transportation package) as a key antecedent and said proposed changes to tolling authority prompted strong local opposition. He said one near-term proposal would increase the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon, raise base vehicle registration by about $42, add roughly $30 for electric vehicles, and create a payroll tax increment for statewide transit; if enacted in the form discussed, counties statewide would receive roughly $97.5 million annually and Deschutes County would receive about 6% of that—about $5.6 million a year, an approximate 25% increase over current county receipts. Riggs…