By Taxpayers Association of Oregon / OregonWatchdog.com
The Sunday Oregonian featured the guest submitted Editorial on the repeal of the gas tax by the Right to Vote on the Gas Tax PAC (State Senator Bruce Starr, State Representative Ed Diehl, Jason Williams, Founder, Director of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon).
Here is a sample:
When politicians stop listening, taxpayers must speak louder. Gov. Tina Kotek and her allies in the Legislature have just raised your gas tax and payroll tax—without asking for your vote. Their message is clear: Salem knows best, and Oregonians should pay more and question less.
We disagree.
That’s why we’re launching a referendum effort to give Oregonians a voice on these new tax hikes. If the governor and legislative leaders won’t trust the people, we’ll make sure the people have the chance to decide for themselves whether these tax increases should go through.
For months, we’ve agreed with Kotek and the Democrats that the Oregon Department of Transportation needs stable funding. But funding stability doesn’t require higher taxes – it requires accountability. We repeatedly proposed reforms to cut waste, identify inefficiencies and focus ODOT on its core mission: building and maintaining safe, functional roads. Each time, those solutions were ignored. Instead, the majority pushed through a tax-and-spend package that punishes working families for ODOT’s failures.
Oregonians already pay the fourth-highest gas prices in the nation, according to AAA, with a gallon of gas costing over $4 a gallon. That will go up another six cents thanks to the transportation bill that was passed. Doubling the payroll tax means smaller paychecks and higher costs for every business, farmer and family. These aren’t abstract numbers—they’re real hits to the budgets of Oregonians who already struggle to make ends meet. When government raises taxes, consumers pay more, workers earn less and businesses think twice about staying in Oregon.
Thousands of Oregonians recognized this reality and made their voices heard. During the public comment period, roughly 95% of testimony opposed the gas tax increases, based on our count of the letters submitted by Oregonians. Yet Gov. Kotek, House Speaker Julie Fahey, and Senate President Rob Wagner ignored that overwhelming opposition and rammed through the bill anyway. They chose to dangle ODOT maintenance workers layoffs to gain political leverage, even though better proposals were available. That’s not democracy – it’s arrogance.