With just five weeks remaining in the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers have yet to unveil the details of a transportation funding package.
This delay was brought into even sharper focus when the two co-chairs of the committee the bill is being crafted in released a memo Thursday with an update on their progress. Among the list of items leaders of the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment (TRIP) updated their colleagues on was a major new policy: The bill will include a new spin on “cap and trade” that would dedicate emission credits to highway projects.
Yes, you read that right. A legislature with a Democrat super-majority (albeit very slim) is crafting a transportation bill that could include a major new source of revenue that expands driving capacity.
The move is likely part of TRIP Committee co-chairs Senator Chris Gorsek and Representative Susan McLain’s (both Democrats) attempt to appease Republicans (and perhaps even some Democrats who love freeway megaprojects) whose votes they want to help pass the bill.
Environmental and transportation advocates immediately pounced on the move.
“It’s like Christmas in May for polluters,” said Lindsey Scholten, executive director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, in a statement published by Move Oregon Forward. “Unfortunately, Democrats in charge are clearly letting Republicans take them for a ride and offering polluters their wish list at the expense of Oregonians.”
The Gorsek and McLain would replace Oregon’s current Climate Protection Program with a “market-based emissions reduction program” and link it to other West Coast markets. In their memo yesterday, the lawmakers made it clear that credits generated from gas and diesel emissions would be dedicated to the state highway fund for “core operations and major projects.” While no numbers were shared, the memo also said “a portion of remaining credits” would be dedicated to a list of other things like: wildfire prevention efforts, local nonprofits working on climate impact programs — and if there’s anything left over — pedestrian safety, transit, and rail projects.
The “cap and pave” program is likely the work of Senator Bruce Starr, who’s one of just a few Republicans working with Democrats to craft the package. Starr is a dedicated advocate for car users and has spent years in the legislature pushing for higher speed limits and more freeway spending. In 2008 Starr opposed a $30 million investment in bike and pedestrian facilities as part of a $1.2 billion expansion of I-5, saying he’d rather spend the money on, “a new interchange in Washington County that allows me to move people safely.”
Democrats released their framework for the $1.9 billion Transportation Reinvestment Package (TRIP) back in April. That framework includes a host of fee and tax increases that would help the Oregon Department of Transportation shore up its budget, pay for freeway megaprojects with massive cost overruns, and invest a relatively paltry sum in programs that fund bicycling, walking, and transit needs statewide.
Advocacy groups are pushing the Democrats to balance the package with much higher investments in transit, rail and projects that improve road safety.
While House and Senate leaders work behind closed doors and have floated a major new policy initiative just weeks prior to the end of the session, their memo promises an actual bill will be “forthcoming,” and that, “A fully transparent and public process will help evaluate and refine the proposals.”
In the meantime, I’ll continue to refresh the House Bill 2025 page on the Oregon Legislative Information System website.
