Governor Steps In to Halt ODOT Layoffs as Oregon Faces Infrastructure Crisis

More than 400 Oregon Department of Transportation workers, laid off after legislators failed to reach consensus on a funding package for ODOT, have been thrown a six-week lifeline by Governor Tina Kotek.

Lawmakers Must Reach Consensus on a Transportation Network Funding Package

Recalling legislators to a special session on August 29 to address the stalemate that has forced ODOT to lay off 483 workers, Kotek yesterday announced that she is confident lawmakers will approve the necessary funding to meet the state’s transportation needs and help avert further job losses.

The governor says that since the adjournment of the legislative session, her team has worked tirelessly with legislators, local partners, and key stakeholders to ‘zero in on a solution.’

Kotek says Oregonians are relying on their elected representatives to ‘deliver adequate and stable funding’ for ODOT to provide basic services like brush clearing to prevent wildfires, and snow plowing in winter.

Minority Leader Says An Increase in Gas and Other Taxes Will Help Fund ODOT

The Republican minority leader in the Oregon House of Representatives, Christine Drazan, says the Governor told her in a telephone conversation that additional funding will be generated by a six-cent-a-gallon increase, additional vehicle fees, and doubling of the state’s payroll tax.

Drazan told a local television news service that she spoke with Kotek on Monday night. All of these possible increases have previously been reported in the Daily Tidings.

ODOT was relying on legislators to pass a funding package of $11 million over the next two years that would have averted job losses and ensured the continued basic cleanup services – both of which have since been impacted.

It would also have funded general road and bridge maintenance, desperately needed to upgrade Oregon’s fast deteriorating transportation network.

The 483 people who were earmarked to lose their jobs on July 31 now have until September 14 to make alternative arrangements to secure their families’ futures. The governor is hopeful that lawmakers will avert these or future job losses.