Transportation Bill May Be Greenballed
May 29, 2009
Author: CFM Staff
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A major transportation bill that House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, called the most significant job-creation measure of the 2009 session may wind up on the ballot because environmental groups don't think it is green enough.
The House this week approved House Bill 2001, which would generate $300 million in new revenue and fund more than $800 million in highway modernization projects, by a vote of 39-21. Later in the week, the Senate approved HB 2001 on a 24-6 vote.
Along with HB 2001, the House passed, on a narrower 32-28 vote, Senate Bill 34 that provides for a gradual increase in payroll taxes in the Portland metropolitan area and central Lane County to support transit operations. The two bills were linked together politically.
Environmental leaders derided HB 2001 for its emphasis on highways and the absence of planning processes in urban areas such as Eugene and Medford that examine non-highway transportation options. Those processes were trimmed out of the bill in the political negotiating process that led to the final version of HB 2001.
A bipartisan legislative work group strove to avoid a referendum of the transportation bill by anti-tax groups. The most obvious manifestation of those negotiations was inclusion of $192 million for the Highway 99 Dundee-Newberg bypass, a top priority for Senator Larry George, R-Sherwood, who has close relationships with anti-tax leaders.
Bob Stacey, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, singled out the bypass project as misguided policy contained in HB 2001 and a reason for the possible referendum to voters. Reportedly, environmental groups have lined up funding to hire political activist and former U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick to run the referendum campaign.
A referendum spearheaded by environmental leaders could result in voter rejection of some or all of the funding increases, which include a 6-cent gas tax hike. Polling suggests voter disenchantment with gas taxes.
The threat of a referendum could cast a shadow over other environmental legislative priorities this session, including House Bill 2186, the low-carbon fuel standard measure that narrowly made it through the House and is pending in the Senate. HB 2186 was routed to Senate Rules late this week in a move that could be tactical to allow more time for negotiation – or as leverage to discourage the referendum
A referendum also could reopen political division between labor and environmental groups that have tried to work in harmony as part of a blue-green coalition.
Jeff Mapes, in his blog for The Oregonian, has highlighted the "no" vote of House Majority Leader Mary Nolan on HB 2001, which he says has stirred controversy in the House Democratic caucus and among some stalwart Democratic supporters. Mapes cites grumbles by rank-and-file Democrats that might translate into reluctance to vote on some of the higher profile tax votes about to reach the House floor.
Another take on the vote is that Nolan was upset that environmentalist-backed provisions in HB 2001 were diluted.
Yet another factor could be Hunt's vote against a destination resort bill that Nolan's House Land Use Committee sent to the floor.
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