Oregon Public Broadcasting

A transportation bill pending in the Oregon Legislature is attracting an unusual mix of critics.  The Oregon House is set to vote Wednesday on a road construction package funded by higher taxes and fees on drivers.  

As Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports, Republicans don’t like the taxes and environmentalists don’t like the heavy emphasis on roads.

The measure would raise an estimated $300 million a year with a six-cent a gallon increase in Oregon’s gas tax along with higher vehicle fees.

Supporters say it would fund key infrastructure improvements and create some 4000 jobs a year.  But environmental groups complain the package doesn’t include enough money for public transit and bicycle and pedestrian projects.

Bob Stacey of the group 1000 Friends of Oregon says those projects would create just as many jobs as new bridges and interchanges would.

Bob Stacey: “It also makes our communities more resilient to increases in the cost of petroleum and the uncertain availability of foreign oil, to have communities in which it’s possible to safely and conveniently walk, bicycle or use transit.”

The transportation bill has bi-partisan support, but the head of the Oregon Republican Party, Bob Tiernan, is a vocal opponent of the higher taxes and fees.

Online:

Oregon House Bill 2001