Republican Leaders Press Governor Kotek to End Delay on $4.3B Transportation Bill as Bipartisan Concern Grows
By Oregon Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr and Oregon House Republican Leader Lucetta Elmer
SALEM, Ore. – Today, Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr (R–Dundee) and House Republican Leader Lucetta Elmer (R–McMinnville) sent a joint letter to Governor Tina Kotek urging her to end her month-long delay in acting on House Bill 3991, the $4.3 billion transportation tax package she championed. Their letter underscores growing bipartisan concern that the Governor’s stall is a calculated effort to silence voters.
The text of the letter reads:
Dear Governor Kotek,
Almost a month after the Legislature passed your so-called “emergency” $4.3 billion transportation tax package (House Bill 3991), it still awaits your signature. Oregonians know where you stand on this policy. What they don’t understand is why you continue to delay taking action.
Your decision to withhold your signature does not serve the public interest. Instead, it undermines confidence in the democratic process and appears intended to limit Oregonians’ ability to weigh in on this historic tax increase. That’s not how government should operate.
Now, members of your own party have urged you to act, warning that these delay tactics risk “undermining public trust in the fairness of our decision-making.” As Senator Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro) recently wrote, “Preserving the full opportunity for civic participation is essential to democratic governance.” Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland) went even further, saying your strategy “runs squarely against some of our core values as Democrats: open government, citizen empowerment, [and] transparency.” When lawmakers from both parties raise the same alarm, it should not be ignored.
If you believe this package represents the best path forward, you should stand by it and sign it. If you recognize it’s flawed, veto it and come back to the table to craft a truly bipartisan transportation package that addresses Oregon’s infrastructure needs responsibly. But continuing to stall for political convenience is unfair to the people we serve.
Oregon’s transportation challenges are too important for political gamesmanship. Oregonians deserve transparency, honesty, and a fair chance to make their voices heard. We urge you to take action immediately and restore some measure of public faith in this process.
Respectfully,