Referendum website for stopping gas tax/fee hike
State Republican leadership wants to let voters reject a gas tax and driver fee grab to bailout ODOT
Here's the website explaining why Republicans are launching a big effort to overturn the state gas tax hike and vehicle registration hike by getting it on the November 2026 General election ballot, giving the voters the chance to stop a tax and spend, out of control Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the state government of Oregon:
It sounds like the Republicans of Oregon have 60 days starting soon to collect 78,000 qualified signatures of Oregon voters to get the gas tax and driver fee hikes on the ballot. This is no small task, as it looks like it depends a lot on volunteer signature gatherers rather than paid signature gatherers.
But I guess I will try to do my part by collecting 200 signatures myself.
ODOT is a mess. They are grossly overspending, to the tune of billions of dollars, on Portland's Rose Quarter I-5 project which plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to put "caps" over the I-5 freeway in Portland's Albina neighborhood so that developers can try to build over the freeway - there will be very little reduction of traffic congestion from the Rose Quarter project. Then too, ODOT is splitting the bill with Washington on rebuilding the I-5 Columbia River bridge with no lane expansions of the bridge, and it is directing a billion dollars or more to expanding the yellow line Max that meanders through north Portland to connect it to Vancouver, Washington using this rebuilt bridge. This despite there already existing very efficient I-5 express bus service, already providing the same transit service that the proposed Max light rail extension would do.
So, what does ODOT do when it is short of money? It does not cut back the Rose Quarter and I-5 bridge boondoggles but instead threatens Oregonians with not plowing the streets in an ice storm or maintaining state highways. So the Referendum to overturn the gas tax and fee hike bailout of ODOT is totally justified.
(posted by Elvis Clark on October 11, 2025)