Oregon Democrats are hitting pause on their push to pass a transportation funding bill, as a key party member recovers from health complications.
Senate President Rob Wagner announced Tuesday that a package of tax and fee increases proposed by Gov. Tina Kotek would not get a vote until Sept. 17 — two weeks later than expected.
The delay became necessary, sources in both political parties said, because Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, experienced complications after a recent surgery.
“I’m eager to get back to the Senate, representing them on the floor,” Gorsek said in a statement Tuesday. “Until then, I have deep gratitude for the nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals delivering my care and serving other patients with far greater needs than mine.”
Without Gorsek on hand, Democrats’ transportation ambitions are sunk. The party must find 18 votes – three-fifths of the chamber’s members — to get the tax increase through the Senate and to Kotek’s desk. With all Senate Republicans opposed, Democrats need every member they have to be present and supportive of the package.
The unexpected delay complicates the very problem Democrats convened the special session to address. Without around $300 million more in its current two-year budget, the Oregon Department of Transportation plans to lay off nearly 10% of its work force and reduce services throughout the state.
Those layoffs were slated to take effect Sept. 15, after the point lawmakers are now expected to take up the funding package. But Kotek announced Tuesday she would push back the potential layoffs until Oct. 15, saying she has assurances from Senate leaders her bill will pass once Gorsek returns.
“This date will make sure there are no interruptions for the hundreds of workers whose jobs hang in the balance and the basic services that Oregonians rely on,” Kotek said in a statement.
Gorsek’s absence adds another blemish to a special session Kotek and Democratic leaders hoped would be smooth and brief – but which has been anything but. The session’s first day, Friday, was marked by inaction when too few House members showed up to conduct business until well into the evening.
Things looked on track to go more smoothly in the Senate, with a vote on the transportation package and a related budget bill teed up for Wednesday morning. But after days of projecting confidence the vote would proceed as planned, Democrats finally announced Tuesday they would have to push it back.
That Gorsek may be instrumental to the bill’s passage is fitting. The Gresham lawmaker spent much of the last year studying and designing an ambitious plan to raise new money for road and bridge upkeep, public transit and other purposes.
The product of that work, House Bill 2025, ultimately failed in dramatic fashion and went nowhere in June. By that time, Gorsek had stepped away from his role as co-chair of the committee after losing his temper with a Republican lawmaker.
Kotek called the current special session last month in order to take another crack at passing a tax package for roads.
The governor has proposed House Bill 3991, a stripped-down version of the bill Gorsek introduced earlier this year. If passed, it would raise gas taxes by 6 cents per gallon, hike vehicle registration and titling fees, raise costs for drivers of EVs, and temporarily double a payroll tax that funds public transit.
The bill passed the House on Monday.
“I want to acknowledge Senator Gorsek for his tireless work during this year’s session,” Kotek said Tuesday. “I know he wants to get the job done on transportation.”
OPB reporter Bryce Dole contributed to this story.
