Oregon Senate Republicans end one-day walkout ahead of transportation referendum vote
By Shaanth Nanguneri and Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon Republicans ended a brief Senate walkout that threatened to derail Democrats’ plans to reschedule a referendum on controversial transportation tax and fee increases from November to May.
Both chambers on Thursday gaveled in with enough Republicans in attendance to reach a quorum, despite a majority of Republicans in the House and all of the Senate GOP not showing up Wednesday afternoon ahead of a vote on Senate Bill 1599, a proposal to shift the referendum vote date. Their attendance averts — at least temporarily — what could have been a quorum-denying walkout running out the clock past the legal deadline to pass legislation changing the referendum date.
The Senate unanimously agreed to move the bill from Thursday’s agenda to Friday’s. The bill was expected to receive a vote late Wednesday in the Senate before Republican lawmakers did not attend.
The gas tax transportation referendum has become a proxy war for lawmakers over affordability issues in the state of Oregon, with Republicans slamming the state’s Democratic leadership for passing legislation during a fall special session to raise the gas tax, car registration and title fees and the payroll tax used for public transit.Â
Democrats, in turn, have argued that new revenue sources are needed to plug the transportation department’s declining revenue driven by declining gas tax revenue and inflation. The agency faces a $242 million budget hole in the 2025-27 budget alone, and it would have to lay off nearly 500 workers if lawmakers don’t come to a compromise. Gov. Tina Kotek has said an answer is needed from voters as soon as possible.
The Republican-led “No Tax Oregon” campaign received enough signatures to pause those new revenue streams until a November referendum, and many Republicans have portrayed the Democratic attempt to reschedule the referendum as an attempt to ensure an unpopular initiative is not on the same general election ballot as Kotek and Democratic legislators.
House Minority Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, told the Capital Chronicle ahead of Thursday’s session that she wasn’t aware of any plans for a walkout in either chamber on Thursday and that her caucus planned to attend. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said his caucus will be proceeding on the Senate floor. He did not elaborate as to whether his caucus had reached a deal with Democrats.
Although Republicans offered no explicit justification for their walkout on Wednesday, Elmer and Starr wrote a letter to Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read on Monday describing the push to change the referendum date as illegal and blatantly partisan. Read’s agency has said lawmakers can do so as long as they pass the rescheduling legislation with an emergency clause and receive Kotek’s signature by Feb. 25. He responded Wednesday to both chamber leaders that he would uphold the Oregon Constitution and any laws passed by the Oregon Legislature.
That impending deadline raised the possibility that Republican lawmakers could attempt to deny a quorum and derail legislation shifting the referendum date. A 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment bars lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from running for reelection, but there are no consequences for skipping up to nine days.
Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, projected confidence in his party’s abilities to finish the transportation vote in a brief interview ahead of Thursday’s session.
“We’re having good, productive conversations,” he said.”Bruce and I are getting along well, and I think people are feeling positive about the legislative session.”
