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Senators debate transportation revenue; some urge no-new-tax alternative
Summary
Senators debated House Bills 3991 and 3992, with critics calling the measures a tax hike and urging consideration of Senate Bill 1221, described as a no-new-tax alternative; the body took routine calendar actions and adjourned without objection until Sept. 3.
The Senate convened on a short agenda that included a pointed debate over proposed transportation revenue measures. Senator Robinson criticized House Bill 3991 and related proposals as a tax increase on Oregonians and urged investigation into how the Oregon Department of Transportation spends construction dollars, saying lawmakers should ‘‘investigate how we got here and fix it’’ rather than immediately approving new revenues. "This session's Labor Day tax hike on struggling Oregonians is the wrong approach to the problem," Robinson said.
Senator Bonham, who earlier asked colleagues to recognize Legislative Counsel Heidi Elliott for drafting work, said there is an alternative: Senate Bill 1221 (LC 7, Senate bill 1221). Bonham described SB 1221 as an approach that "requires no new tax" and said it could serve as a bridge until a broader reevaluation of transportation funding in 2026 or 2027. "We can fill the potholes. We can plow the roads. We can do this without a new tax," Bonham said.
The presiding officer and clerk also handled routine business: messages and committee reports were distributed and ordered into the journal, and the clerk listed several items for placement on the calendar, including House Concurrent Resolution 51 (adjourning a signee to the 2025 special session), House Bill 3991 (relating to transportation revenue; its revenue measure requires a three-fifths majority), and House Bill 3992 (relating to state financial administration and declaring an emergency). The chair instructed those items to "pass to the calendar."
The Senate adjourned "without objection" until 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3. No formal roll-call votes on the transportation bills were recorded during this session; debate and formal calendar placement, rather than final action on the measures, were the day's substantive outcomes.
