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FILE – Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at the State Library of Oregon in Salem on Jan. 31, 2023. An internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, obtained by The Associated Press via a public records request Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, concluded that Executive Director Steve Marks and other five agency officials had diverted sought-after bourbons, including Pappy Van Winkle’s 23-year-old whiskey, for their personal use. Gov. Kotek on Wednesday asked the agency’s board of commissioners to remove Marks and the other implicated officials, alleging they “abused their position for personal gain.” (AP Photo/Claire Rush, File)
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon lawmakers will meet in a special session starting this morning, trying to pass transportation funding for road projects and prevent hundreds of layoffs.
Governor Tina Kotek called the Special Session after lawmakers failed to pass transportation funding during the regular session ending in June. “We need to meet the basic needs of our transportation system,” said Kotek.
She’s proposing tax and fee increases to fill ODOT’s budget gap and prevent as many as 500 layoffs. Democrats say the $791 million this would raise over the next two years would handle immediate needs, but it’s not a long-term solution. Republicans are against it, saying it relies too much on tax and fee increases. House Republican leader Christine Drazan, tells the Lars Larson Show her party’s ready to walk out to stop it. “Every single tool has to be available to fight this.”
To raise more than $700 million for roads and prevent hundreds of ODOT layoffs, lawmakers are looking at a 6 cents per gallon gas tax increase, doubling vehicle registration fees, a $139 increase in title fees, and doubling the payroll tax for public transit. Drazan says every option, including a walkout is: “On the table. And so I wanna be really clear about that. We are opposing this.”
The State Senate gavels in at 9 A.M., with the House following at 11 A.M..
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Annette Newell
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