Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Senate panel hears testimony on bills to tie transportation spending to safety and tighten debt oversight
Summary
An informational Senate Transportation Committee hearing on Feb. 2 featured advocates and local officials supporting SB 15 42 ("Measure What We Drive") to score projects by safety and maintenance, and SB 15 43 to impose binding transportation debt-management guardrails and increase transparency; no votes were taken.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Senate Transportation Committee held an informational hearing Feb. 2 on two companion bills that would remake how the state prioritizes transportation projects and how it manages borrowing.
Advocates said SB 15 42, called "Measure What We Drive," would codify a performance-based capital investment process so projects are scored and funded according to clearly stated safety and maintenance goals. SB 15 43 would create a transportation-specific debt-management policy that requires greater oversight and public disclosure before ODOT takes on new borrowing. The committee did not act on either bill during the informational session.
"We want to really focus on nuts-and-bolts mechanics of how the different entities in transportation interact," said Brett Morgan, transportation policy director at Climate Solutions, describing the companion bills as a low- or no-new-fiscal way to align planning and budgeting.
Indi Namkun…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
