By Taxpayers Association of Oregon / OregonWatchdog.com
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SB 1599 has passed the House and is on the way to the Governor. SB b1599 takes the gas tax referendum’s November election date and swaps it to the lesser election date of the May Primary.
This is election swapping — especially when the gas tax referendum petition explicitly sets the November election.
Here is how the entire gas tax fight has blocked voters:
- Last year, Kotek and the Democrat majority leadership blocked voters by rushing out a gas tax during the final days of session (it failed).
- Kotek called an emergency Special Session and blocked voters by rushing the tax through Labor Day weekend.
- Kotek delayed signing her own bill in order to cut in half the time referendum petitioners had to gather signatures.
- Kotek signed the bill on a Friday night after business hours to further conceal her efforts and block voters.
- Having failed to stop voters (the referendum gathered 250,000+ signatures), the lawmakers are moving the election date from November to May.
- By moving it to May not only lowers voter turnout but it handicaps voters’ ability to submit voter arguments on their own ballot measure they brought to the ballot.
- The Secretary of State set a deadline for the Legislature to pass the bill (Feb 25) in order to not interfere with the normal election and voter pamphlet argument process. The Legislature has violated that deadline in reckless fashion.
Here is how they voted on SB 1599:
