Move over House Bill 2025, there’s a new transportation bill in town. As it appears the Democrats big transportation bill is dead in the water, there’s a scramble to stuff transportation policy into a separate bill in order to come away with at least something this session.
HB 3042 was a classic “gut and stuff” — meaning it was filed as a placeholder just in case lawmakers needed it. And boy do they ever as Oregon Public Broadcasting and other sources report that HB 2025 doesn’t have the votes to pass.
So what’s in HB 3042? Here’s what I know so far:
- Performance audits on the State Highway Fund and ODOT capital projects once every two years.
- Changes how the ODOT Director is appointed (by the Governor, instead of the Oregon Transportation Commission). This is a relatively useless clause that has been rightfully identified as an “accountability charade” by City Observatory.
- The bill beefs up and clarifies the roster of an ODOT accountability advisory committee.
- It gives the Joint Committee on Transportation legal authority to “review of scope, schedule changes, and budget updates of major projects (those exceeding $250 million) on a quarterly basis, as well as of city or county projects of less than $25 million with a requested cost increase of at least 10 percent and projects exceeding $25 million where the requested increase is at least five percent.” This seems to me like a way to take some authority away from the Oregon Transportation Commission and give it to legislators.
- Increases the statewide gas tax by three whole cents (LOL) — from 40 cents per gallon to 43 cents per gallon.
- Increases annual fee for registration of passenger vehicles from $43 to $64.
- Increases vehicle title fee from $77 to $168.
All revenue from the above gas tax and fee increases will flow directly to ODOT.
That last provision is huge, because it means cities and counties would be totally zeroed out in new state funding. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has wasted no time in expressing his opposition to it: “After more than a year outlining the tremendous need at the local level, House Bill 3402-3 threatens to sideline local authority and transit priorities at a time when collaboration is most needed,” he wrote in a statement at 2:00 pm today.
Here’s more from Wilson:
“Portland operates Oregon’s second-largest transportation system, which supports millions of people and goods moving in and out of the state. This bill puts that system at risk. It jeopardizes dozens of essential city infrastructure jobs and our ability to perform basic safety functions like filling potholes and implementing traffic safety improvements.
We can’t afford a patchwork solution. Legislators, please don’t leave Salem without addressing crumbling city transportation systems. We’re calling on our state partners to lean into our shared commitment to building a resilient and future-ready transportation network for all Oregonians.”
HB 3402-3 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Rules at 3:45 pm today. That committee includes two of the loudest voices who opposed HB 2025 — its Vice-Chair Rep. Christine Drazan and Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis.