Gov. Kotek Calls Special Session to Address Transportation Emergency

Salem, Oregon- Governor Tina Kotek announced Monday that she is calling a special session of the Oregon Legislature to begin Friday, August 29, 2025, in response to what she called an emergency in the state’s transportation system.

The special session will focus on securing immediate funding to maintain essential operations at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), as well as supporting local governments and transit districts. The announcement follows the close of the 2025 legislative session, which ended without a funded ODOT budget.

“In the weeks since the adjournment of the legislative session, my team and I have worked every day with legislators, local partners, and key stakeholders to zero in on a solution and a timeline for the legislature to come back together and address the state’s most immediate transportation needs,” Kotek said. “Oregonians rely on these basic services, from brush clearing to prevent wildfires to snow plowing in winter weather, and they are counting on their elected representatives to deliver adequate and stable funding.”

Facing a budget shortfall, ODOT began laying off employees earlier this month, initiating 483 of a projected 600 to 700 total layoffs. Kotek noted that with a plan for a special session now in place, she has instructed ODOT to delay further layoffs.

“Subsequently, with the agreement of legislative leadership and with a plan for a special session now in place, I have directed ODOT to postpone the start date of layoffs for an additional 45 days, allowing impacted staff more time to make contingency plans for their livelihoods and their families,” she said.

Kotek said her top priority is to restore funding to the state highway trust fund for the 2025–27 biennium, preserve revenue sharing with local governments, prevent facility closures, and minimize service disruptions. She also wants to increase funding to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund to avoid immediate transit cutbacks.

She emphasized that any solution must include “key provisions related to ratepayer fairness, funding reliability, and agency accountability.”

“The special session will be focused on critical near-term solutions to stabilize basic functions at ODOT and local governments,” Kotek said. “This is just the first step of many that must be taken to meet our state’s long-term transportation needs.”

A second round of ODOT layoffs remains scheduled for early 2026 if lawmakers fail to act.