Oregon Legislature Splits Over Ton-Mile Tax Repeal
The Senate July 17 approved a plan proposed by the Oregon Trucking Associations that would replace the lost revenue from the weight-distance tax with a 29-cent diesel fuel tax and increases in truck registration fees. Five states have a weight-distance tax of some kind, but Oregon is the only one that relies on it as the primary means of collecting from trucking.
Also, Oregon is the only state that does not collect a diesel fuel tax from truckers. It has a nominal registration fee for trucks.
OTA’s weight-distance repeal effort is tied to a 5-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax hike and registration fee increase for passenger vehicles that will be used to fix crumbling roads and expand the state’s highway system. The House passed a proposal calling for a 6-cent increase in the gasoline tax in May, but the measure didn’t include a diesel fuel tax.
The Senate voted 18-10 in favor of that bill, but Sen. Frank Shields said most senators opposed eliminating the weight-distance tax.
He said Gov. John Kitzhaber called various senators into his office to tell them that he, too, opposed a repeal of the weight-mile tax, but asked them to vote for the package to keep the gasoline tax alive.
The gasoline tax package now must be confirmed by the House, but Speaker Lynn Snodgrass has said she doesn’t see much support for getting rid of the weight-distance tax.
The House could again approve the gasoline tax without the diesel fuel tax, but Senate leaders are hanging tough.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Marylin Shannon, a main proponent of a weight-distance repeal, said the road funding package lives or dies with the weight-mile repeal.
“The package is dead if you take out my piece,” she said.
