By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com
Governor Tina Kotek called for a Special Legislative Session Friday August 29th to try to ramrod her failed gas tax package which failed to even get a single floor vote last June (because the gas tax/wage tax was so awful).
House and Senate lawmakers assembled but there was not enough to make a quorum and meet basic Constitutional guidelines to conduct business. Floor meetings were delayed 3x during the day until it was clear that the Legislature lacked the votes to even meet.
It turns out that Governor Kotek’s rash plan to force lawmakers to come into a Special Session on the day before a 3-day Labor Day weekend, slammed into many lawmakers travel plans. As a a result, numerous lawmakers were given excuses to not be present. This put the whole vote count for a basic quorum at risk. Then one lawmaker, State Rep. Andrea Valderrama, had a flight cancellation which blocked her timely return to the Legislature further ruining the vote count.
This angered the unions for whom hundreds of government union jobs are at stake and for which they are the top supporters of the big tax increase, The Oregonian reports, ” Jason Lawrence, an employee and union leader at the Oregon Department of Transportation. “And I don’t think it’s too damn much to ask these people who run for office to represent us and call themselves public servants to just show up.”. The Statesman Journal reported further union anger, “People took the day off to come and testify and tell their story,” said SEIU executive director Melissa Unger. Unger said one worker from Ontario drove to Salem to testify.”
Meanwhile Oregon Republican lawmakers re-offered a new tax-free plan to fund ODOT through cost savings and cost shifting like moving funds away from unrelated climate projects back to core transportation needs.
People are now predicting that the Session will drag on into next week.
House Bill 3991 is the new bill number for the transportation package of gas taxes/DMV fees/wage taxes.
The post Special Session (gas tax) flops on day #1. Mass confusion. first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.
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