"Political" Dem tax vote bill guts public election process
SB 1599 would cut citizen input and notice because Democratic leadership doesn't "want to see this on a November ballot" with Kotek and other Dem tax hike supporters
The Democrats who run Oregon’s legislature are fast tracking a bill that would substitute their own will for that of Oregon residents, cram months of process into weeks and generally eviscerate normal democratic procedure to avoid the discomfort of appearing on the same November ballot as their unpopular $4.3 billion transportation tax hike.
Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) and House Speaker Julie Fahey (D-Eugene) introduced the bill, SB 1599, Thursday. It received a first reading in the Senate that same day and is scheduled to receive a hearing at 1 pm today before a committee dominated by legislators who voted for the tax hike. Democratic leadership created the committee from whole cloth to approve the bill and to take the place of other Oregonians who would normally draft neutral explanatory and budget information to help voters understand what they’re voting on.
The tax hike, Gov. Tina Kotek’s (D) top legislative priority over the past year, is slated for a November vote after opponents, led by petitioners including State Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Scio) and Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Dundee), gathered some 250,000 signatures to force a statewide vote. The problem? Kotek has said she’s running for re-election, to appear on the same ballot with her tax hike along with every Democrat seeking re-election to the House and half the Senate Democrats. All Democrats currently serving in the legislature voted for the tax hike.
After toying publicly with the unconstituional idea of repealing part of the tax hike to avoid a public vote, Democrats are now focused on moving the date of the vote from the November 3, 2026 general election to the May 19, 2026 primary election.
Senate President Wagner admitted Democrats want to contort Oregon election law to protect their own political viability, according to OPB:
“Is it political? For sure,” Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, told reporters last week. “I don’t think people want to see this on a November ballot.” Wagner’s office later sought to downplay his remarks.
By “people,” Wagner presumably meant elected Democrats and their public employee union allies. Around 250,000 less-privileged people signed petitions that specifically referred the tax hike to the November ballot. Secretary of State Tobias Read (D) announced the day after SB 1599 was introduced that his office received a certified ballot title from the Attorney General (also D) “proposed for the November 3, 2026, General Election.”
SB 1599, which will require a majority vote in both houses of the legislature and Kotek’s signature to become law, would recraft from the ground up Oregon election law as applied to the tax hike vote. Its many changes operate along three primary axes, each of which attempts to ensure fairness and citizen input to the ballot measure process.
Explanatory Statement
Oregon law provides a neutral 500-word explanatory statement is to appear on the ballot along with the measure to help voters understand what they’re voting on. A committee made up of two proponents of the measure (in this case, people who want to repeal the tax hike), two opponents and one person appointed by the other four, is supposed to draft the explanatory statement.
The Democrats’ bill eliminates the citizen committee, putting a legislative committee, presumably the same one that will hold a hearing on the bill today, in charge of drafting. The three Democrats on the committee all voted for the tax hike.
Under ordinary procedure, the Secretary of State holds a hearing on the explanatory statement drafted by the citizen committee. The Democrats’ bill does not address the hearing, but sets deadlines that would, at best, severely shorten the notice the Secretary of State is to give Oregonians regarding their right to be heard on the explanatory statement.
The bill then attempts, perhaps unconstitutionally, to give the Supreme Court a deadline of March 12 to rule on any petition objecting to the explanatory statement. The March 12 date is important because the Secretary of State’s office says that’s the last day it can receive the explanatory statement and other measure materials to make the May 19, 2026, primary election.
Financial Estimate
Oregon law requires a committee consisting of the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the Director of the Department of Administrative Services and someone with expertise in local government finance to draft a financial estimate to appear on the ballot to help voters understand the fiscal ramifications of their vote.
SB 1599 eliminates the financial estimate committee and replaces it, again, with a legislative committee run by Democrats who voted for the tax hike and don’t want it on the November ballot.
The financial estimate is supposed to get a hearing, too, but as with the explanatory statement, the Democrats’ bill would at best shorten notice periods intended to ensure Oregonians have a chance to weigh in on the estimate.
Ballot Measure Arguments
Oregon law provides anyone can pay a fee and get an argument for or against a ballot measure in the accompanying voters pamphlet. The deadline for submission of arguments is supposed to be the 120th day before the election, which would have been January 19.
SB 1599 eliminates that long-passed deadline and instructs the Secretary of State to prepare a rule that sets a new, as-yet undeclared deadline. The bill also hides from public records requests arguments regarding only the tax hike measure until four days after the arguments are filed. Under current law, that four-day exemption applies only to local, not state, ballot measure arguments.
Kotek has said repeatedly the tax hike, which would raise $4.3 billion over 10 years from a higher gas tax, payroll taxes and vehicle registration and titling fees is necessary to avoid layoffs and transportation maintenance cuts. Kotek has yet to make layoffs from the Oregon Department of Transportation despite repeated, specific threats to do so.
Oregon Roundup Foundation created this article. ORF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to covering Oregon political and government news. Media outlets are welcome to use this article for free with attribution of the author and Oregon Roundup Foundation. If your local news outlet isn’t carrying ORF articles, ask ‘em why.
The behavior of Oregon's Democrats in this case is obscene, valid enough reason to turn them out of power.
Ah yes the party that loves democracy and the everyday folk as long as they shut up sit down and do what they're told. So which party is dictatorial again ?