Oregon’s top election officer says lawmakers can move up transportation referendum date – if they act quickly

By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capitol Chronicle

SALEM, Ore. -- Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tina Kotek have less than one month to pass a bill if they want to move a transportation funding referendum from November to May, according to Oregon’s top election officer. 

Deputy Secretary of State Michael Kaplan in a Wednesday afternoon memo said the Oregon Legislature may move the date of a referendum about a transportation law to May - if lawmakers pass a bill with an emergency clause and Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature by Feb. 25. 

The memo responds to questions from Democratic leaders about the No Tax Oregon campaign, a late 2025 petition to refer to the November 2026 ballot portions of a Democratic-led law meant to raise $4.3 billion in transportation maintenance funding over the next decade.

Petitioners successfully submitted enough signatures to the secretary of state in December to include the referendum in a November vote, thus delaying provisions of the law — including a 6-cent gas tax increase, vehicle registration and title fee hikes and a temporary hike to the transit tax.

Kotek earlier this month called on lawmakers to repeal the law she championed without knowing that a 1935 Oregon attorney general opinion says the Legislature can’t repeal a law once it has been referred to the ballot.

While the opinion still stands, according to legislative legal counsel, lawmakers can change the date of the election, and that’s exactly what Democratic leadership plans to do. 

Democratic leaders said they will introduce legislation in the legislative short session scheduled to begin Feb. 2 to move the referendum from the November general election to the May 19 primary election. 

According to the memo, information relating to the referendum including ballot title, financial estimates, the explanation of the measure, as well as arguments for and against it must be filed with the secretary of state by March 12 to appear on the state voter’s pamphlet.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee and a co-petitioner with the No Tax Oregon campaign, said he opposes moving the measure to May, citing concerns that it would limit voter turnout. In the state’s last gubernatorial election year in 2022, voter turnout reached 37% in the primary, compared to 67% in the general election.

Starr was in the majority on a transportation committee when a 1999 transportation bill passed and set the referendum election date for May. In that election, more than 87% of voters rejected a gas tax increase.

“I understand that it is the prerogative of the majority to try to change that election,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “We will hopefully engage with the 200,000 Oregonians to sign the petition to encourage my colleagues to not do that.”

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said moving the election doesn’t disenfranchise voters, and that moving it would provide lawmakers with clarity on what their next steps should be for transportation funding.

Gov. Tina Kotek said lawmakers have had thoughtful discussions on rearranging existing dollars in the Oregon Department of Transportation budget toward maintenance and operations. The agency has a gap of about $242 million for the current 2025-27 budget cycle. 

“We have to fill that budget hole, and hopefully we will get that done this session,” Kotek said.