Oregon Transportation Funding Bill Advances Amid Sharp Debate

Salem, Oregon- Oregon lawmakers on Sunday advanced a wide-ranging transportation funding package out of the Joint Special Session Committee on Transportation Funding, sending the measure to the House floor for debate. The proposal seeks to stabilize state and local transportation systems, fund road and bridge maintenance, and add new oversight requirements for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Democratic leaders say the package represents months of negotiations and revisions aimed at ensuring basic safety and maintenance needs are met without overburdening families.

“Getting here has been a long road, but the result is a bill that ensures that cities, counties, and the state will be able to perform basic maintenance and safety work on our roads—filling potholes, plowing snow in the winter, and making sure our bridges don’t fall down,” said House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-West Eugene and Veneta.

House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, Metzger and South Beaverton, said affordability was a central concern. “Throughout this process, Oregonians have shared their real struggles with the cost of living,” Bowman said. “We have heard those concerns and have made additional changes to the bill to address them, including eliminating the provision allowing tax increases without legislative approval.”

Supporters say the measure would keep neighborhood roads safer, maintain snowplow routes in winter, modernize how electric vehicles pay into the system, and strengthen oversight of transportation spending.

“The roads, bridges, and maintenance services we’re talking about in this bill affect real lives—parents driving their kids to school, seniors getting to appointments, first responders reaching emergencies,” said Rep. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove. “We cannot leave rural Oregon behind. We cannot gamble with safety. We cannot afford to wait.”

But Republicans strongly opposed the plan, framing it as an unprecedented tax increase that would harm families and businesses.

“HB 2025 was a disaster for Oregonians from the start,” said Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany. “Born in the basement, this bill would have doubled down on the failures of the past, upended the bipartisan history of transportation in Oregon, raised costs for every business and family, and failed to deliver the accountability and core road maintenance Oregonians expect.”

Boshart Davis pointed to provisions she said would have raised $11.7 billion in new taxes over the next decade, including accelerated gas tax hikes, tripled payroll taxes for transit, and a 350% increase in the vehicle sales tax. She said the costs would have fallen hardest on workers, businesses and the trucking industry, warning that operating a truck in Oregon would rise to more than $51,000 annually — far above the national average.

She also cited state projections of job losses and economic harm across sectors, and criticized the package for diverting funds away from road and bridge maintenance toward what she described as “non-essential projects.”

“We know ODOT has a culture problem,” Boshart Davis said. “I have heard from countless ODOT workers about a hostile and retaliatory work environment and a culture resistant to change.”

Republicans backed an alternative proposal, HB 3982, which they said would stabilize ODOT’s budget without raising taxes by redirecting $134 million from climate and transit programs and enacting stronger reforms.

“Budgets reflect priorities,” Boshart Davis said. “We stood up for Oregon businesses and working families today. We can and must fix our roads and bridges, but we will not do it on the backs of those who keep Oregon’s economy moving. The death of HB 2025 gives us a chance to reset the deck and come up with a transportation package that helps ODOT be successful.”

The competing views set the stage for a contentious floor debate as lawmakers weigh how to balance Oregon’s infrastructure needs with economic pressures facing families and businesses.