Five Kotek setbacks (beyond gas tax defeat)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Kotek just suffered several serious setbacks this summer.

Most recent and notable has been the the massive $2 billion gas tax/road tax transportation bill (Hb 2025) which died last Friday at the official end of the 2025 Legislature.  Just look at how desprate The Oregonian makes Kotek as it describes Kotek not being involved until the final seven hours of the entire Session:

The Oregonian reports, “For months, Kotek’s engagement on the transportation package was limited to behind-the-scenes meetings with lawmakers. But on the final day of the session, she spent at least seven hours in the Capitol, urging lawmakers in one-on-one meetings to pass the slimmed down proposal.”  

The Oregonian did not mention Capitol insiders that said that Governor Kotek was threatening lawmakers with vetoes of their local budget spending projects in the omnibus bill if they did not do what she requested.  So desperate.   Governor Kotek last December drafted a fluff budget with transportation funding but leaving out the hard parts of how to pay for it.  Then Governor Kotek went silent for much of Session and shows up at the last minute panic to threaten people.

This is why even OPB noted a disconnect with Kotek at her recent press conference when OPB reported, “What Kotek didn’t have was any blame for herself.”  Ouch!

Here are other recent set-backs the media cited on Governor Kotek.

•  Kotek tried to stop a foster care regulation bill with a veto threat.   The Oregon State Senate made a surprising move against Kotek’s veto, by over-riding the veto with a lopsided 21-6 vote turn-out.  For of all, the last time an Oregon Senate overrode a Governor veto was in 2011.  Second, the margin of defeat showed that Kotek had only 6 supporters.  A clear rebuke of near-historic proportions.

• Governor Kotek came out hard against the pre-school for all tax and resorted to threat-like attacks on the Chair of METRO.  Willamette Week noted, “It’s unusual for the governor to publicly single out one particular local tax for rebuke”.  Very unusual.

• Governor Kotek housing plan fell apart:  While Kotek budgeted for $700 million for affordable housing, she only got $468 million.   While Kotek budgeted for $173 million for rent subsidies in her budget, she only got $45 million.

• Governor Kotek also floated taking the people’s Kicker Income Tax Refund for wildfire.  She later backtracked and recast her plan as only takign the rich people’s kicker.

• Also, this very month, Governor Kotek had made a bold stance against extraditing an Oregon fugitive suspect who stole so much from a local Eugene newspaper that the newspaper laid off a dozen employees and closed temporarily.   Kotek said she wanted to save money not having to collect the fugitive in Ohio.  That blew up and Kotek was forced to reverse herself.  At the same time, Kotek refused to extradite a mass-burglary suspect, and once again, after backlash reversed herself.

Finally, we noticed the Governor got a bad photo moment.  Usually, the media reserves such awkward photos for non-liberals.  This means the media feels free to express their dismissive feelings possibly.

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The post Five Kotek setbacks (beyond gas tax defeat) first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.