Oregon Lawmakers Set to Give Final Approval to Tax, Fee Hikes for Transportation Today
The bill aims to raise $4.3 billion over 10 years to avoid nearly 10% layoffs at the Oregon Department of Transportation, increasing taxes on fuel and electric vehicles.
- Monday the Oregon Senate is set to meet at 9 a.m. to take up House Bill 3991 during legislative days in the Oregon state Capitol.
- ODOT's looming layoffs and budget shortfalls pushed lawmakers to consider HB 3991, which is expected to raise $4.3 billion over its first decade to prevent nearly 10% workforce cuts.
- HB 3991 would raise the gas tax by six cents per gallon, nearly double vehicle registration and title fees, and double the payroll tax for public transit from 0.1% to 0.2%.
- Gov. Tina Kotek plans to sign HB 3991 once it reaches her desk after she suspended 483 pending ODOT layoffs that would have taken effect Oct. 15, preventing job losses among state transportation workers.
- Advocates warn HB 3991 is only a temporary fix that does not reduce emissions or secure transit funding, while Republicans in Oregon pledged a referendum for the November 2026 election and the payroll tax expiration in 2028.
13 Articles
13 Articles

Oregon Senate passes $4.3 billion transportation package
Trucks and buses drive in Portland. (Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation/Flickr)The Oregon Senate on Monday in a party-line 18-11 vote passed a long-awaited transportation bill that will update the state’s funding sources for road maintenance and operations. House Bill 3991 will raise about $4.3 billion over the next 10 years to fund road maintenance and operations by raising the gas tax by six cents, nearly doubling most …
Oregon lawmakers set to give final approval to tax, fee hikes for transportation today
Senate Democrats mustered the 18 votes necessary to pass one of two bills needed to enact the taxes and distribute them to transportation agencies. They have yet to vote on the second bill to complete the deal.
Democrats pass anemic transportation bill as Republicans grandstand to bitter end
Finally. It’s not the transportation bill any Oregon Democrats wanted, but it’s the only one they could manage to pass. Yesterday in the Senate Chamber the House Bill 3991 finally flopped over the finish line with a vote of 18-11. There were no surprises with votes and everything went pretty much as planned by Democratic leaders, a sentence I haven’t been able to write about this legislative process since it began back in May. HB 3991 will raise…
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