Oregon legislators are beginning a statewide tour in Portland. The goal: Factfinding on the state’s transportation needs ahead of a proposed, big-budget transportation package the 2025 session.
And if that sounds familiar, it’s because this year’s lawmakers studied the 2016 playbook. That year, lawmakers crisscrossed the state asking about transportation needs, which lead to a $5.3 billion statewide transportation bill that passed both chambers with strong bipartisan support in 2017.
This year’s listening tour kicks off from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 4, at the Cascade campus of Portland Community College, 705 N. Killingsworth St. The public hearing will be available via livestream on olis.oregonlegislature.gov .
Co-chairs of the joint, bipartisan committee are Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, and Rep. Susan McLain, D-Hillsboro. Vice chairs are Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Polk and Yamhill counties, and Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany.
“Each stop on this tour is going to give us a greater perspective of the transportation needs in Oregon and how best to tackle the structural challenges we are facing,” Gorsek and McLain wrote in a press release.
The goal, as outlined by lawmakers on May 10, is to gather perspectives and information that would be used by legislators to craft a transportation package in the 2025 legislative session. Such a package would be designed to allow the Oregon Department of Transportation to maintain critical infrastructure, complete major projects and guarantee the safety of transportation systems across the state.
People interested in testifying at the PCC hearing can register in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting begins. The committee also will hear remote testimony if time permits, for which the public can register at olis.oregonlegislature.gov.
Written testimony can be submitted to the committee via email to JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov.
Before the public hearing, lawmakers will take a guided trip of transportation facilities in the Portland metro area and will hold a roundtable discussion with metro-area stakeholders and officials regarding the transportation needs of the region.
The 2017 transportation bill was heralded by Republicans and Democrats, and by people in rural, suburban and urban Oregon, because of the statewide outreach. That bipartisan bill passed the Senate 22-to-7 and the House 39-to-20, drawing “aye” votes from both parties.
That 10-year plan included increases in the gas tax, registration and title fees and new taxes on payroll, new vehicle purchases and bicycles priced more than $200.
But the bill also called for congestion-priced tolling at some of the metro area’s transportation bottlenecks. The Oregon Transportation Commission was given the responsibility of establishing a program that could have entailed tolling on Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 to pay for congestion-busting projects.
But tolling became prohibitively unpopular with metro-area elected officials and community members. So much so that Gov. Tina Kotek has tabled further discussion of tolling.
This year’s fact-finding sessions begins Portland and will head out to the rest of the state. The rest of the schedule is:
Tillamook: Tuesday, June 18Albany: Tuesday, July 16Eugene: Wednesday, July 17Coos Bay: Wednesday, Aug. 7Medford: Thursday, Aug. 8Ontario: Wednesday, Aug. 28Hermiston: Thursday Aug. 29Bend: Thursday, Sept. 12The Dalles: Friday, Sept. 13Happy Valley: Thursday, Sept. 26Hillsboro: Friday, Sept. 27
On May 6, House Speaker Julie Fahey, Senate President Rob Wagner, and Gov. Tina Kotek sent a letter to the committee affirming their support of the committee’s plan while laying out their joint priorities: safety; maintenance and operations improvement; and completion of unfinished projects.
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