Where is the state transportation package?
With just three full weeks left in the legislative session, panic is setting in among advocacy groups and lawmakers alike as Democratic party leaders continue to negotiate behind closed doors on a long-awaited transportation funding package.
Instead of sitting on their hands, a notable group of Democrats — including Portland Senator Khanh Pham and Joint Committee on Transportation Co-Chair Chris Gorsek — attended a press conference on the Capitol steps in Salem this morning to unveil their vision for the package. It includes $665 million more than the $1.9 billion investment framework released by party leaders back in April.
This new proposal is from a group of Democrats that are decidedly more progressive than party leaders when it comes to transportation policy. Their vision, which they call the SMART (Safe, Modern, Affordable & Accountable, Reliable Transportation) Framework is based on a memo sent back in April to members of the Joint Committee on Transportation by House Representative Mark Gamba, a Democrat who represents Milwaukie.
Gamba and Pham are members of the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment, a new version of the Joint Committee on Transportation (JCT) formed to oversee the new bill. They are both freeway expansion skeptics and have been solid voices for major transportation reform for years. Joining them in support of the SMART Framework are: Senators Gorsek, Lisa Reynolds, Courtney Neron Misslin, Jeff Golden, and Kathleen Taylor; and Representatives Rob Nosse, Thuy Tran, Willy Chotzen, Travis Nelson, Farrah Chaichi, Sarah Finger McDonald, Tom Andersen, and Lisa Fragala.
Their SMART Framework looks to raise about $2.5 billion and marks a very strong contrast to the austere proposal shared by a conservative wing of Republicans in early May. Pham, Gamba, and the proposal’s other supporters say the time is now for Oregon to increase funding for transit and ensure robust services statewide — while also making streets safer around schools, investing in ODOT’s urban highways that continue to plague cities with their unsafe designs, and invest more in bikeways, rail, and electric vehicle rebates for bikes and cars.
Joining lawmakers at this morning’s event were representatives from AARP, a school board, a transit worker’s union, and a transit agency.
Democrats enjoy a slim supermajority in Salem, but are reportedly working with a select group of Republicans to hammer out a bill. When they released an update on their package late last month, some transportation and environmental advocacy groups panned the plan’s provisions — which include a cap-and-trade scheme that would fund freeway expansions — as “cap and pave.”
Compared to the Joint Committee’s framework released in April, the SMART Framework includes: a higher gas tax increase; a 2% sales tax on new car purchases and 1% on used cars, instead of a 1% user fee (with sales taxes not being tied to the Highway Trust Fund, thus allowing lawmakers more flexibility in how the revenue could be spent); and a larger increase to the payroll tax that funds transit which would result in no cuts in service. Another difference from the JCT’s framework is something I hinted at back in April: a different approach to the bike tax. Democratic party leaders want to increase Oregon’s existing bike tax from $15 to $24.50; the SMART Framework would instead establish a new, Bicycle Privilege Tax of 0.8%. This progressive approach would replace the regressive, flat-fee structure of the current tax.
These revenue sources would allow the SMART Framework to raise $39 million more per biennium for off-highway bike and walking paths than the JCT’s initial framework, fund Gamba’s $6 million e-bike rebate plan, and more.
The provisions in SMART respond to the type of investments advocacy groups have called for in order to focus more of ODOT’s spending on safe streets, maintenance, and non-driving modes; instead of the traditional focus on freeway and highway megaprojects.
“The SMART Framework is accountable to the Oregonians who have spoken up by preventing cuts to transit service, fully funding our Safe Routes program to get kids to school safely, and by providing the resources necessary for cities and counties across the state to fix their local streets,” said Sen. Pham in a statement.
And Rep. Gamba added that now is not a time for transportation austerity. “We have underfunded our transportation system for decades now, and that continuing to do that will result in bridge closures and highway deaths,” he said. “Kicking the can further down the road will make it even that much more painful to recover. We have an opportunity to do the responsible thing and make our streets safer in the process.”
Whether or not Democratic party leaders heed this advice is hard to tell. But once they do release a bill, they won’t have much time to haggle over it and there are bound to be compromises to get something passed before the end of session on June 29th.
Download the SMART Framework one-pager for more details:
