A person pumps gas at an Arco station on Belmont Street in Portland, Ore. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Oregon’s top lawmakers won’t preempt the public from voting on unpopular tax increases pushed by Gov. Tina Kotek – a move the governor requested.
Instead, House Speaker Julie Fahey and Senate President Rob Wagner hope to bump that vote up five months, ensuring voters take up the tax question on a primary ballot where Kotek and other Democrats are less likely to risk political penalties.
Fahey and Wagner announced Wednesday they will press lawmakers to schedule a vote on the tax increases on May 19, rather than in November as currently scheduled.
“Voters were clear that they want to have a say on this bill, and legislators and our local partners need to know the transportation funding landscape so meaningful conversations can continue,” Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said in a statement. “Setting the election date for May achieves both these goals.”
The move is the latest gust in a whirlwind political drama over how Oregon funds its roads.
Kotek urged Democrats to pass House Bill 3991 in September, after the Legislature failed to pass a larger road-funding bill during the regular session that concluded in June. Part of the bill raised gas taxes and fees in order to prevent layoffs of state transportation workers. But a Republican-led campaign quickly collected enough signatures to refer the tax and fee hikes to the November ballot, where members of both parties expect they are doomed.
Kotek announced earlier this month she wanted lawmakers to repeal the taxes before the vote could occur, potentially ensuring they did not appear on a ballot in which she is seeking reelection.
But the legal question of whether that repeal is allowed is murky – so murky that legislative lawyers have issued opposing opinions on the matter in the last two weeks.
On July 9, Chief Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson wrote in a legal opinion to state Rep. Ed Diehl that it is “likely that the Legislative Assembly can repeal HB 3991 in the 2026 session. The effect of the repeal would be to render the referendum election as moot and so the election would not take place.”
But Johnson reversed himself in a longer opinion on Jan. 21, this one to Fahey.
“We conclude that the Legislative Assembly may not repeal any provision of HB 3991 that referendum petitioners have referred to voters at the November 2026 general election,” that document read.
The opinion went into detail about past cases that have touched on questions of legislative power over referendums. It did not refer to Johnson’s earlier, opposite conclusion.
Johnson’s new opinion gives lawmakers explicit legal clearance to move the date of the tax vote to Oregon’s May primary. Fahey and Wagner say the move is in step with what lawmakers did in 2000, the last time a transportation funding proposal was sent to voters. In that election, more than 87% of voters rejected a gas tax increase.
“Setting the date for the May primary gives lawmakers — and all Oregonians — needed clarity and certainty on the next steps for Oregon’s transportation future,” Fahey, D-Eugene, said in a statement Wednesday.
That reasoning is unlikely to sway Republicans hoping the tax hikes will hurt Democrats at the ballot this fall.
“We will not let them get away with that,” Diehl, a Scio Republican who helped lead the campaign to refer the taxes, told supporters Wednesday as he unveiled a bid for governor. “You have a constitutional right to vote on this. We said we want it on the November ballot.”
Another Republican vying to challenge Kotek, state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, had a similar reaction.
“Tina Kotek is afraid of being on the same ballot as her gas tax,” Drazan said in a statement. “At the end of the day she can’t avoid Oregonians; they will hold her accountable.”
While Johnson’s most recent opinion suggests lawmakers cannot touch the taxes that were referred to voters, it says they are free to repeal other aspects of the bill that weren’t challenged. Kotek said in a press release Wednesday it would be up to lawmakers to decide how to move forward.
“Two weeks ago, I was clear with Oregonians about transportation: we must redirect, repeal, and rebuild,” Kotek said in a statement. “The legislature and the constitution will determine how and when repeal occurs.”
The governor has said she will convene discussions this year that would lead to a new road-funding proposal in the 2027 session.
