Poll: Voters hate tax hike, eager for repeal

Eighty-six percent say they would sign repeal petition once Kotek lets them

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek with a pen, which could theoretically be used to sign her signature $4.3 billion transportation tax hike bill, allowing opponents to begin collecting signatures for its repeal

A poll commissioned by opponents of Oregon Democrats’ $4.3 billion gas tax and vehicle fee hike bill shows 67% of likely Oregon voters would vote to repeal the bill if given the chance. The poll, conducted by Riley Research Associates between October 15 and 25, shows 82% of likely voters oppose the bill’s six-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase and 86% of Oregonians would sign a petition to repeal the bill. Oregon Catalyst first reported on the poll.

Governor Tina Kotek (D), who personally muscled the bill through a reluctant legislature in which her party enjoys supermajorities in both houses, is scheduled to return to Oregon today from an Asian trade mission, with the tax bill yet unsigned.

Each day Kotek delays signing her signature bill, which she described in August as necessary to address an “immediate crisis in our transportation system,” reduces the time Oregonians have to sign the repeal petition. Opponents cannot start collecting the approximately 78,000 required signatures, and the 86% of Oregonians who say they want to sign cannot do so, until Kotek signs the bill into law. The deadline to submit the signatures is fixed at December 30. If opponents submit enough signatures by that date, the question of repealing the tax hike would appear on the November 2026 ballot, along with Kotek herself, all House members and half of Senators.

The House passed the the tax bill September 1, with the Senate following suit September 29 to bring to a close the longest special legislative session in Oregon history. One House then-Republican, Cyrus Javadi, voted for the bill, then promptly switched his party affiliation to Democrat.

Opponents to the tax hike, including Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Scio) and Senate GOP leader Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) have organized Right to Vote on the Gas Tax PAC, which is raising money to gather the necessary signatures, and commissioned the poll. Riley Research and Associates describes itself as a full service market research and consulting firm based in Portland. According to the firm’s website and news reports, it has conducted polling for government entities including Clackamas County as well as news organizations, trade groups and businesses.

The poll of 500 likely voting Oregonians was conducted by telephone, according to Riley Research and Associates, and has a 95% level of confidence and a +/- 4% margin of error.

In addition to increasing the state gas tax, the tax hike bill would nearly double the vehicle registration fee, nearly triple the state title fee and double the state transit tax on every dollar earned by Oregon workers. The poll suggests strong voter opposition to each of those provisions.

The unpopularity of the tax hike suggested by the poll, and the eagerness of Oregonians to vote to repeal it, may explain two Senate Democrats’ letters to Kotek last week urging her to sign the bill “without further delay,” as first reported by Oregon Roundup.