Republican petitioners sue Oregon over new law rescheduling gas tax referendum to May

Plaintiffs argue it interferes with Oregonians' constitutional right to set a referendum date

By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle

SALEM, Ore. -- Republican leaders of a successful petition to pause gas tax and transportation fee hikes until a citizen vote are suing the state over a new law rescheduling that vote.

Gov. Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1599 into law shortly after it passed the House on Monday, clearing the way for voters to have a say on the controversial transportation law she championed in May rather than November. 

But referendum leaders including Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Scio, Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee and Taxpayer Association of Oregon founder Jason Williams listed themselves as joint plaintiffs in a new lawsuit alleging the law violates Oregon’s constitutional referendum protections, due process and fair election principals.

The lawsuit has an additional 36 plaintiffs from a variety of different political backgrounds, Diehl told reporters at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, without specifying who the other plaintiffs are. 

Petition leaders said they would file the lawsuit in Marion County Circuit Court later in the day, listing Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read as the defendant. A spokesperson for Read declined to comment because it is pending litigation. The suit was not yet available in online court records as of late Tuesday afternoon. 

While lawmakers cannot repeal a law once it has been referred to the ballot, they are allowed to move which election voters can take up an issue, Read said in January. 

However, Read last week warned lawmakers that missing a Feb. 25 deadline to sign the bill into law, would limit how much time petitioners have to pay a $1,200 filing fee or gather 500 signatures to add arguments to the state voter pamphlet. Both are due by March 12, but the petitioners couldn’t begin collecting signatures for the pamphlet until the bill was signed into law. This process takes more time since the secretary’s office must verify those signatures.

Diehl said he and his colleagues are in the process of collecting signatures to qualify for the pamphlet. 

The lawsuit alleges the law compressed the timeline campaign leaders have to qualify for the voter’s pamphlet, and that the lawsuit is necessary to defend the 250,000 Oregonians who signed the No Tax Oregon petition to pause a 6-cent gas tax increase, hikes to car registration and title fees and doubling the payroll taxes used for public transit — all of which were supposed to bring in new revenue for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s maintenance and operations which faces a $242 million shortfall in the 2025-27 budget cycle alone. 

The petition leaders criticized Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tina Kotek for what they say is interference in their efforts to have a voice. Kotek took nearly the entire 30 business days she had to sign the transportation law she championed during a fall special session into law — a move that limited the time frame No Tax Oregon petitioners had to gather signatures. 

“The governor waited 43 days to sign it,” Diehl said about Kotek’s fall transportation package. “I think she waited 15 minutes to sign this one.”