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The Oregon Senate will not take up a tax and fee transportation package until Sept. 17, when it is expected that a Democratic senator will be able to return from back surgery. Democrats need his vote if Republicans remain united against the bill.
With a key Democratic senator recovering from surgery, the Oregon Senate will delay for two weeks a vote — originally planned for Wednesday, Sept. 3, on a transportation tax package.
The House narrowly passed the 10-year, $4.3 billion package on Monday, sending the bill to the Senate. But on Tuesday evening, Senate Democrats announced that they would delay the vote until Sept. 17, when they expect Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, to be available.
Raising taxes requires support from 18 of 30 senators. Democrats hold 18 seats. That means all Democrats need to be present if Republicans remain united against the transportation bill. Gorsek underwent back surgery in August and is recovering from complications of that surgery, Democratic leaders said.
“We have been in constant communication with Sen. Gorsek and his team as he works to recover from complications relating to a planned back surgery,” Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said in a statement Tuesday. “My understanding is that it would be unsafe for Sen. Gorsek to be away from medical care at this time.”
A Sept. 17 vote means the bill cannot pass until after Sept. 15, when hundreds of Oregon Department of Transportation workers were slated to be laid off pending legislative intervention.
Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday ordered layoffs be delayed again, until Oct. 15.
“This date will make sure there are no interruptions for the hundreds of workers whose jobs hang in the balance and the basic services that Oregonians rely on,” Kotek said in a statement.
Melissa Unger, executive director of the Service Employees International Union Local 503 that represents many of the affected employees, said workers appreciate the security of knowing no one will lose their jobs for another month, but that lawmakers need to do better.
“When one of our workers calls out sick, someone will step up and do their job,” she said. “And I think right now, we really believe that we need to give workers security. They have been facing unknown timelines, unknown votes for the past two months about whether they get to save their jobs.”
The Oregon Department of Transportation faces an immediate $300 million shortfall in the two-year budget cycle that began July 1, because lawmakers failed to pass a transportation funding plan during the recent six-month legislative session.
Kotek in July announced that the department would lay off 483 workers and close a dozen maintenance stations, but she postponed the effective date of layoffs after calling lawmakers back in a special session.
