Kotek secretly signed tax hike Friday

Gov Tina Kotek signed a letter dated Friday, but made public today, announcing she signed the bill

She used the pen Friday, she says.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed her signature $4.3 billion transportation tax and fee hike bill Friday, according to a letter dated Friday but issued publicly today along with a press release from her office, ending a nearly monthlong delay many including members of her own party speculated was intended to reduce the amount of time opponents have to collect signatures to put a repeal on the ballot for November 2026.

According to the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, whose founder Jason Williams is one of three chief petitioners of the repeal effort, opponents may be able to begin collecting signatures Wednesday or Thursday in light of the weekend delay and tomorrow being Veterans Day. State Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Scio), another chief petitioner, told Oregon Roundup this morning opponents are submitting paperwork today to allow them to begin collecting signatures as soon as possible.

The Governor’s press release describes the bill that languished on her desk for weeks an “Emergency Transportation Package.” The letter officially notifies Secretary of State Tobias Read she signed the bill Friday. The Governor needed to inform the Secretary of State of her signing the bill to allow the Secretary of State to commence paperwork that will culminate in opponents’ ability to begin gathering the approximately 78,000 signatures they need to put the repeal on the ballot.

In recent weeks, there was speculation Kotek would sign the bill Friday while using the weekend and Veterans Day to delay the date on which opponents could collect signatures, leading me to post thusly on Twitter/X:

On Saturday, Secretary of State office told Oregon Roundup it was unaware of whether Kotek had yet signed the bill. The Governor’s office, as is its practice, did not respond to Oregon Roundup’s questions about the bill signing over the weekend.

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Oregon Roundup submitted public records requests to the Governor’s office, the Speaker’s office and the Senate Majority Leader’s office seeking records related to any plans to sign the bill on Halloween or last Friday. It has received no documents as of publication of this article.

A recent poll commissioned by tax hike opponents found 67% of Oregonians would vote to repeal it if given the chance. The bill includes a six-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase and significant hikes in vehicle registration and licensing fees.