A to-do list for the governor before she calls a special session

Calling legislators back for another attempt at a transportation package will be a waste of time unless relationships are rebuilt and priorities reconsidered first

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek looking chipper sometime before Democrats’ signature 2025 tax hike bill died and the recriminations started. (Photo courtesy Governor’s Office)

Oregon’s 2025 legislative session ended two weeks ago, but the fallout has only started.

Before the session adjourned, Gov. Tina Kotek warned there would be mass layoffs at the Department of Transportation if legislators did not approve increased transportation spending. Call this a threat or a dare, it clearly was an attempt to intimidate.

Unfazed, the Legislature, led by mostly unified Republican opposition, adjourned without approving an increase - not even Kotek’s last ditch request for a slimmed down package with a 3-cent-per-gallon increase in the gasoline tax and substantial increases in title and registration fees.

On Monday, through a press release, Kotek announced the promised layoffs. Nearly 500 DOT employees will lose their jobs by the end of the month, she said. Most legislative observers expect Kotek to call the Legislature into special session some time to approve some type of increase in transportation spending.

She should be patient. The temperature in Salem needs to drop first. That’s a metaphor not a literal suggestion of waiting until fall - though two or three months probably is about right for a cooling-down period.

Here are some things Kotek should do in the meantime:

Go to a farmer’s market and buy some carrots

Yes, that’s another metaphor. Kotek’s leadership style relies heavily on power and intimidation (sticks). She needs to work on friendly persuasion and positive incentives (carrots).

First, persuasion is a better way to govern than intimidation. But even if you disagree with that point of view, evidence is mounting that legislators and staffers don’t fear Kotek the governor the way they did Kotek the House speaker. The first sign was the insurrection and exodus of staff over the role of Kotek’s wife. Then came her inability to twist enough arms to get a transportation package through the Legislature.

Warnings about layoffs or roads in disrepair didn’t move the needle either. It’s time for some true two-sided conversation where the governor listens and offers something of value in return for getting some of what she wants.

Analyze all of Oregon’s taxes and prioritize them

At some level, Kotek recognizes that Oregon taxes are too high. She has been persistent in her criticism of Multnomah County’s preschool-for-all tax. The governor’s core complaint is accurate: The tax assessed on high-earners to fund preschool programs is helping drive high earners - and businesses - out of Multnomah County, many of them out of state. That in turn reduces tax revenue. She’s also correct that the program has been poorly implemented.

However, defenders of preschool for all are right to sniff more than a bit of hypocrisy in Kotek’s criticism. She targeted Multnomah County while lobbying for a $15 billion transportation tax. And it’s not difficult to find state programs that were poorly implemented. In fact, I can’t think of one that was implemented well.

The fair and wise thing to do is to compile a spreadsheet of all taxes, state and local, analyze all of them to determine what return the state is getting on taxpayers’ money and trim or eliminate the ineffective and/or unneeded programs.

Have an honest discussion with union leaders

Kotek’s rush to lay off workers is politically puzzling. Does she think unions will blame Republicans instead of her? Is she trying to motivate unions to pump even more money into Democratic campaign chests so they can get an even tighter grip on the Legislature? Does she want them to go after moderate Democrats such as Sen. Mark Meek who dared question the size of the transportation package?

It’s time to remove those questions by having an honest discuss with union leaders that starts with, “Sorry, you can’t always get what you want.” As powerful as public employee unions are in Oregon, they don’t make up a majority of voters. Taxpayers finally have begun to notice the effects of union-backed legislation and at least a few Democratic legislators might be ready to respond.

Make a transportation project list built on compromise

Republicans’ counter proposal on transportation was a good starting point for negotiations. Surely, they knew Democrats wouldn’t accept it. And it isn’t realistic to meet transportation needs with no new funds. But their proposal still was more realistic than the original $15 billion Democratic plan. So, look at the suggested Republican cuts and implement some of them. Then build a list of true high-priority needs. Democrats will insist the project list includes mass transit and non-traditional transportation. That’s fine if they can prove demand. Republicans will prioritize maintenance and rural projects - and oppose tolling. Those are fair positions. Hammer out the rest through compromise.

I’m sure some will say this is an unrealistic approach. The past decade of Oregon politics suggests it is. But when our state’s government, or any state’s government, is functioning the way it should, this is simply standard operating procedure.