Hearing: Pass gas tax or your life’s in danger

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Transportation Committee hearign at the State Capitol over the gas tax began with Governor Kotek’s spokeswoman who said upfront “we can’t keep you safe” if you don’t pass this billion dollar gas tax package. She explained that without a hike in gas taxes and wage taxes your government could not repair dangerous roads that cause accidents and that your government could not properly plow snow which keep us safe during storms.

The Mayor of Detroit emphasized the same point, saying that the “danger right now is the safety of people on our highways”.  An AFSCME union member testified that entire highways in Oregon would simply shut down during snow times.

Consider what Governor Kotek and others are saying at the hearing …

Governor Kotek is saying that your government cannot keep you safe on the roads with the current gas tax which is the 10th highest in the nation and with current DMV fees, also among the 10th highest in the nation.  Only by raising gas taxes by another 15% and raising DMV’s by around 100% can government keep you safe.

Governor Kotek is saying government cannot keep you safe by simply having the nation’s only statewide transit wage tax (.1%), we must double that wage tax (that no other state has) and only then can government keep you safe.

Don’t forget that Kotek just raised both the gas tax and DMV just last year.  That’s right, Oregon’s gas tax went up 5% last year and DMV fees went up 20% in some places.

Could not savings be found like other states without putting our lives at risk?  Kotek doesn’t seem to think so.  The Oregonian Editorial Board wants Kotek to drop the hugely expensive Project Labor Agreement plan which will needlessly add 20% to the cost of transportation projects. No, Kotek refuses to drop this order.  Apparently this over-paying unions for road projects is more important than saving people’s lives on the road.   During the hearing, State Senator Daniel Bonham asked if it was possible to reduce the millions spent by ODOT on Climate Protection Programs — which is not a core function of the Transportation Department.   ODOT said no.   Again, our lives are put at risk over this.

What about the $4.5 billion in Federal aid to Oregon from Biden’s Infrastructure Act?  Where did that money go?  Could we save a few lives with that money?  Interestingly, Biden’s Infrastructure Act was part of the near-$5 trillion in extra spending Biden did during his term for which it caused the spike in inflation.   That inflation was so severe that it caused ODOT’s expenses to rise.  During the gas tax hearing yesterday, it was mentioned that we must pass a gas tax to keep up with this inflation.  Consider the cruel irony, that Biden’s gift to ODOT, in part, contributed to inflation and now we must pay higher prices for government to give billions to our own agency.

Governor Kotek’s spokeswoman also said that they will not be able to remove graffiti in Portland if this gas tax is not passed.   Portland has a graffiti problem because they keeping setting free people who have been arrested for graffiti.   During the Portland riots, the Portland Mayor pledged to not remove many graffiti acts — saying they were protected social justice murals.  Curiously, those protected social justice graffiti displays have quickly been hit with other graffiti vandalism.  Would that make it a crime or make it more worthy of protection under Mayor Wheeler’s rationale?   Simply put, graffiti is a problem made worse by Portland’s failures.  Now, Kotek wants rural Oregonians to pay for Portland’s mistakes.

Finally, the chair of the committee said he would take more questions and public input on Friday which is the day of the vote.

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The post Hearing: Pass gas tax or your life’s in danger first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.