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
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 ?
Reponses like Robby's below exemplifies why Oregon is in the position it is today. While Robby is not technically wrong, the thought process to support a complete and literal political sham is what is wrong with our progressive left. Call a spade a spade, if this was any other obscure measure there is no way the leadership would be addressing this, no way.
Oregon desperately needs new leadership, the state is at the bottom of every metric that is important to a healthy thriving state. It doesn't matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, if things do not radically change the death spiral will continue and it will get a lot worse before it gets better....
"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."
Anyone who has paid attention to these committees know this is a sham. Since the 5th member of the committee is almost guaranteed to be chosen by the Sec/State and would be the tie breaker, you know damn well that the grifters who engineered this whole disgrace will stack the deck again.
They did this with Mz 114 where the 5th member was a retired lesbian judge. But the Sec State also gets to appoint who HE decides are the opponents of the measure. In the case of Measure 114 the strongest opponents of the measure got no say in choosing who represented them. The dice are loaded. The house has rigged the game. And if the Republicans put up with this crap again they are utter fools.
Yes, fools with paychecks and offices YOU pay for, but fools.
Democrats are safeguarding election integrity and fiscal transparency, not undermining democracy as claimed.
Protecting Voter Clarity:
SB 1599 ensures a professional, unbiased explanatory statement and financial estimate drafted by legislators with direct expertise on the $4.3B transportation package, rather than potentially partisan citizen volunteers who lack policy depth.
This mirrors standard legislative oversight, preventing skewed messaging that could confuse voters on complex fiscal impacts like gas taxes funding road repairs.
Rushing to May avoids pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus—Wagner's "political" comment reflects pragmatic ballot design, not evasion, as primaries historically suit policy referenda.
Preserving Public Input:
The bill maintains hearings (albeit streamlined) and Supreme Court review deadlines to meet printing timelines, ensuring Oregonians still weigh in via Secretary of State processes. Hiding arguments briefly protects against strategic sabotage, a common safeguard already used for local measures.
Opponents' 250,000 signatures earned the referral, but shifting dates complies with constitutional flexibility; no layoffs at ODOT show the tax's urgency was overstated, yet infrastructure needs remain critical regardless.
I've done work for the signature company of Oregon before. 250k signatures aint much. Wouldn't surprise me if this passes just to spite the ole pedo protectors.
Nah you don't get to declare infactual propaganda as anyone's but your own reality.
Signatures aren't votes.
You don't even need to vote to sign.
Cry harder, but your framing here is absolutely ridiculous. We all play by the same rules and you are mad we don't cater to your fantasy of government.
or dismaying.... these are the voters that believe the garbage Ms Kotek spews. ODOT has enough money and they DON'T need anymore bureaucracy to weigh their workers down.
“Rushing to May avoids pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus …”
Delete “pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus.”
Replace with “Elimimate the plurality of Oregon voters who are unaffiliated with either major party and hold the vote only between Republicans and Democratic Party partisans, the latter of which greatly outnumber the former.”
If you’re kidding in any of this it didn’t come through,
As an unaffiliated (nonaffiliated) voter in Oregon, you can vote on all ballot measures (statewide and local) that appear in the May election; the restriction only applies to party primaries for partisan candidates.
What manauever? The minority appear to want to block funding for roads. Kids ride and drive on our roads. I like maintenance roads and state and federal workers.
Im unaffiliated. I just don't think Republicans know how to do anything besides protect pedos and murderers.
Why is DJT looting 10 billion with a self serving lawsuit against tax payers? That's all of us. Back in my day we use to have compassionate conservatives. Seems they all left the GOP by now though.
Other than being a partisan moron, you only see the communists side of things. This is evident in your comment about Republicans being pedos and Trumps lawsuit. There need to be accountability or there won't be a Republic anymore. That you don't care about there being a Republic is not the point. There needs to be accountability and THAT is what the President is doing.
Because Oregon's tax code often connects to federal tax definitions, the state faces a significant revenue shortfall. Oregon officials are considering "decoupling" from some federal changes to avoid losing state revenue, which could reduce the net tax benefit for some residents. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced snap for poor families and Medicaid for poor families.
Last I checked Democrats wanted to decouple our state tax code from the the federal tax code and Republicans refused. We are at war. No quarter, no bipartisanship. So voting out all the Republicans seems to be the only solution. I'm an unaffiliated voter and have been waiting for 41+ years to have a Republican I can actually vote for.
Tax cuts isn't brave or wise. Its freaking foolish. We lose over 295,000 citizens a year to compounding poverty. And never has trickle down economics worked in the country. That is a lying myth spread by the GOP. Decoupling our taxes would allow for progress again in our state instead of arguing over tax rates every year.
Jeff, I'm new to your Substack and grateful for this news and insights that don't get coverage in local or state media. May I suggest you consider citizen response options? What can we do practically to put pressure on elected officials? I'd appreciate that guidance.
The penultimate paragraph is only one of the things I don’t understand in this post.
But
“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.”
Does this mean there would be no arguments for or against in the primary voter’s pamphlet??? One of the few things of value in the state, along with (usually; appears undone here???) the measure explanation.
This whole issue is not a big deal, it’s a huge deal and should be fought for tooth and nail to keep it honest and fair.
This is what Democracy looks like in Sanctuary States. I don’t think we voted on whether we wanted to be a sanctuary state, probably would pass anyway since our mail in ballots are probably trashed if it’s from a conservative.
I don't entirely agree with your reasoning for these moves. As far as changing the date of the vote, it is entirely to capitalize on the lower voter turnout to get their tax package to pass. Anything else they are doing in conjunction is to hide their real agenda. So this tax measure is to raise, very simply stated, 430 million per year for 10 years. Admitting that I do not know the exact specifics of ODOT's funding, but the tampon has stated there is a projected $121 million per year shortfall projected for the 2026-2027 biennium. This is very basic, but the numbers do not add up. The Republicans have made multiple attempts to offer other solutions. NONE were considered. Not even a consideration towards combining multiple solutions before sticking it to the people. More specifically, rural Oregonians that tend to be more Conservative. Anyone that has any amount of honesty can admit this. I worked in State governmental accounting for 22 years. There is a lot more to this tax hike than the tampon and her communist brethren are telling.
The Trump admin is working feverishly to repair the damage mail in ballots, arriving in county offices over a period of weeks, has done to the election process and trustworthiness. Moving this gross tax increase to the primary ballot may circumvent this referendum from many of the election reforms being implemented.
Thanks Jeff, it’s shocking how Evil 👿these Demon-crat people are. We do have to be wiser than these disingenuous unpatriotic sicophantes are.
We need to live and be in a “State Of Sanctifying Grace” personally to see through these diabolical things these people come up with. It may not appear obvious but you can be sure these people get what they deserve in this Life and especially in the next.
Thank You for sharing your always brilliant interpretation read on these issues. We need sharp people like you to see through some of these “Smoke Screens “ these ill natured humans do. Thank You 💪🏼🇺🇸🙏
The only thing I can say after all the other comments here - the Oregon legislature with its super majority is the closest thing to an absolute dictatorship the country has right now. If you could ask the Dems what’s still missing to complete their vision for Oregon, they would just say the camps and trains.
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 ?
Well aint you special
Reponses like Robby's below exemplifies why Oregon is in the position it is today. While Robby is not technically wrong, the thought process to support a complete and literal political sham is what is wrong with our progressive left. Call a spade a spade, if this was any other obscure measure there is no way the leadership would be addressing this, no way.
Oregon desperately needs new leadership, the state is at the bottom of every metric that is important to a healthy thriving state. It doesn't matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, if things do not radically change the death spiral will continue and it will get a lot worse before it gets better....
How long will this continue?
“I’m mad as h*ll…” to paraphrase
"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."
Anyone who has paid attention to these committees know this is a sham. Since the 5th member of the committee is almost guaranteed to be chosen by the Sec/State and would be the tie breaker, you know damn well that the grifters who engineered this whole disgrace will stack the deck again.
They did this with Mz 114 where the 5th member was a retired lesbian judge. But the Sec State also gets to appoint who HE decides are the opponents of the measure. In the case of Measure 114 the strongest opponents of the measure got no say in choosing who represented them. The dice are loaded. The house has rigged the game. And if the Republicans put up with this crap again they are utter fools.
Yes, fools with paychecks and offices YOU pay for, but fools.
It is as if the 'party of the people' doesn't want the people to have much input.
The only thing missing from Salem at this point is a huge military parade on May Day.
Democrats are safeguarding election integrity and fiscal transparency, not undermining democracy as claimed.
Protecting Voter Clarity:
SB 1599 ensures a professional, unbiased explanatory statement and financial estimate drafted by legislators with direct expertise on the $4.3B transportation package, rather than potentially partisan citizen volunteers who lack policy depth.
This mirrors standard legislative oversight, preventing skewed messaging that could confuse voters on complex fiscal impacts like gas taxes funding road repairs.
Rushing to May avoids pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus—Wagner's "political" comment reflects pragmatic ballot design, not evasion, as primaries historically suit policy referenda.
Preserving Public Input:
The bill maintains hearings (albeit streamlined) and Supreme Court review deadlines to meet printing timelines, ensuring Oregonians still weigh in via Secretary of State processes. Hiding arguments briefly protects against strategic sabotage, a common safeguard already used for local measures.
Opponents' 250,000 signatures earned the referral, but shifting dates complies with constitutional flexibility; no layoffs at ODOT show the tax's urgency was overstated, yet infrastructure needs remain critical regardless.
I've done work for the signature company of Oregon before. 250k signatures aint much. Wouldn't surprise me if this passes just to spite the ole pedo protectors.
LOL. Thanks for this.
So he WAS kidding.
Didn’t quite go through my decoder ring.
Oh, I don’t think he was kidding. But it was funny.
4.3b, not funny. Silencing 250k voters, not funny. Changing date referendum to appear on ballot, not funny.
Thinking the people of Oregon have a representative republic, now that's funny.
Nah you don't get to declare infactual propaganda as anyone's but your own reality.
Signatures aren't votes.
You don't even need to vote to sign.
Cry harder, but your framing here is absolutely ridiculous. We all play by the same rules and you are mad we don't cater to your fantasy of government.
or dismaying.... these are the voters that believe the garbage Ms Kotek spews. ODOT has enough money and they DON'T need anymore bureaucracy to weigh their workers down.
Eek. Ok, well I’d already left a response.
“Rushing to May avoids pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus …”
Delete “pairing the measure with dozens of other ballot items in November, reducing voter fatigue and improving focus.”
Replace with “Elimimate the plurality of Oregon voters who are unaffiliated with either major party and hold the vote only between Republicans and Democratic Party partisans, the latter of which greatly outnumber the former.”
If you’re kidding in any of this it didn’t come through,
As an unaffiliated (nonaffiliated) voter in Oregon, you can vote on all ballot measures (statewide and local) that appear in the May election; the restriction only applies to party primaries for partisan candidates.
True. Also true: the turnout never compares.
Which is the reason for this maneuver.
What manauever? The minority appear to want to block funding for roads. Kids ride and drive on our roads. I like maintenance roads and state and federal workers.
Im unaffiliated. I just don't think Republicans know how to do anything besides protect pedos and murderers.
Why is DJT looting 10 billion with a self serving lawsuit against tax payers? That's all of us. Back in my day we use to have compassionate conservatives. Seems they all left the GOP by now though.
Other than being a partisan moron, you only see the communists side of things. This is evident in your comment about Republicans being pedos and Trumps lawsuit. There need to be accountability or there won't be a Republic anymore. That you don't care about there being a Republic is not the point. There needs to be accountability and THAT is what the President is doing.
The measure to put this largest-tax-increase-in-Oregon-history on the ballot had more signatures than any other measure in Oregon history.
Let the voters have their say.
This isn’t about Trump, which is all the Democratic Party has to try to rile up their base.
Mildly curious, how long have you been in this state? We used to have respectable members of both parties here.
Been here since birth.
Not about Trump?
Impact on Oregon Tax Code:
Because Oregon's tax code often connects to federal tax definitions, the state faces a significant revenue shortfall. Oregon officials are considering "decoupling" from some federal changes to avoid losing state revenue, which could reduce the net tax benefit for some residents. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced snap for poor families and Medicaid for poor families.
Last I checked Democrats wanted to decouple our state tax code from the the federal tax code and Republicans refused. We are at war. No quarter, no bipartisanship. So voting out all the Republicans seems to be the only solution. I'm an unaffiliated voter and have been waiting for 41+ years to have a Republican I can actually vote for.
Tax cuts isn't brave or wise. Its freaking foolish. We lose over 295,000 citizens a year to compounding poverty. And never has trickle down economics worked in the country. That is a lying myth spread by the GOP. Decoupling our taxes would allow for progress again in our state instead of arguing over tax rates every year.
You can pay as much as you like Robby, no law say's you can't chip in more for your favorite things.
They have no shame...
Jeff, I'm new to your Substack and grateful for this news and insights that don't get coverage in local or state media. May I suggest you consider citizen response options? What can we do practically to put pressure on elected officials? I'd appreciate that guidance.
Call your representatives, email them, testify in person in Salem, leave testimony on OLIS. You have many options, Scott.
Unfortunately the image Mr. Eager chose of the speaker and his associates laughing at the beginning of his report is highly accurate.
The penultimate paragraph is only one of the things I don’t understand in this post.
But
“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.”
Does this mean there would be no arguments for or against in the primary voter’s pamphlet??? One of the few things of value in the state, along with (usually; appears undone here???) the measure explanation.
This whole issue is not a big deal, it’s a huge deal and should be fought for tooth and nail to keep it honest and fair.
...and, with media busy-busy defending illegal immigrants, Kotek will be re-elected...just...like...that.
Get out while the getting's good.
This is what Democracy looks like in Sanctuary States. I don’t think we voted on whether we wanted to be a sanctuary state, probably would pass anyway since our mail in ballots are probably trashed if it’s from a conservative.
I don't entirely agree with your reasoning for these moves. As far as changing the date of the vote, it is entirely to capitalize on the lower voter turnout to get their tax package to pass. Anything else they are doing in conjunction is to hide their real agenda. So this tax measure is to raise, very simply stated, 430 million per year for 10 years. Admitting that I do not know the exact specifics of ODOT's funding, but the tampon has stated there is a projected $121 million per year shortfall projected for the 2026-2027 biennium. This is very basic, but the numbers do not add up. The Republicans have made multiple attempts to offer other solutions. NONE were considered. Not even a consideration towards combining multiple solutions before sticking it to the people. More specifically, rural Oregonians that tend to be more Conservative. Anyone that has any amount of honesty can admit this. I worked in State governmental accounting for 22 years. There is a lot more to this tax hike than the tampon and her communist brethren are telling.
The Trump admin is working feverishly to repair the damage mail in ballots, arriving in county offices over a period of weeks, has done to the election process and trustworthiness. Moving this gross tax increase to the primary ballot may circumvent this referendum from many of the election reforms being implemented.
Thanks Jeff, it’s shocking how Evil 👿these Demon-crat people are. We do have to be wiser than these disingenuous unpatriotic sicophantes are.
We need to live and be in a “State Of Sanctifying Grace” personally to see through these diabolical things these people come up with. It may not appear obvious but you can be sure these people get what they deserve in this Life and especially in the next.
Thank You for sharing your always brilliant interpretation read on these issues. We need sharp people like you to see through some of these “Smoke Screens “ these ill natured humans do. Thank You 💪🏼🇺🇸🙏
Thank you for opposing SB1599.
Do you have a position on frivolous emergency clauses?
The only thing I can say after all the other comments here - the Oregon legislature with its super majority is the closest thing to an absolute dictatorship the country has right now. If you could ask the Dems what’s still missing to complete their vision for Oregon, they would just say the camps and trains.