The gas tax saga continues

Published 10:03 am Wednesday, February 11, 2026

‘No Tax Oregon’ campaign pushes for fall vote

Dec. 2025 brought a victory for the No Tax Oregon Campaign, but its fight continues months later.

Local petitioners for the 2025 No Tax Oregon Campaign have expressed frustration at the filing of Oregon’s SB 1599. It’s a bill that would move the election date for the referred parts of last year’s controversial transportation bill to the primary election on May 19, 2026.

In Nov. and Dec. of 2025, nearly 200,000 Oregonians, including 2,074 from Clatsop County, according to local organizer Virginia Hall, signed a petition to refer certain transportation package provisions dealing with tax and fee increases to the November 2026 ballot for the voters to decide their outcomes. These provisions include the gas tax, title fees, a vehicle registration fee and payroll tax.

“Oregon will become too expensive to live in for the rest of the middle class, who pay for these taxes, and they will be forced to move out of the state, taking their tax contributions to some other local and state government coffers,” Hall said.

Local organizer Katrina Nelson says SB 1599 is unconstitutional. “All I can speak for is the quarter of a million people who signed (the petition) with the understanding that (the referendum) would be on the November ballot,” she said. “Everyone knows that the primaries have low voter turnout and that the supermajority wants to lessen the time that people can learn more about.”

Some of Nelson’s neighbors agree. As of Tues., Feb. 10, 23 Clatsop County residents had submitted written testimony to the Legislature in opposition to the bill. The breakdown was 12 from Astoria, five from Warrenton, four from Seaside and two from Gearhart. No one from Clatsop County had submitted supportive statements.

One of the testimonials came from lifelong-registered Democrat Liz Kee, who said she is tired of “being taxed to death.” Another, submitted by Derek Bangs, detailed several specific critiques, including concerns about voter turnout and fairness and the integrity of the democratic process.

Bangs also wrote about the lack of an emergency to justify the emergency clause in SB 1599. “State budgets have already been passed, and the most recent February 2026 revenue forecasts show that Oregon is seeing higher taxable income than originally anticipated,” Bangs said. “With a projected state surplus and a significant “kicker” expected, there is no reason to bypass the standard November election cycle.” Bangs is referring to the $1.4 billion tax credit triggered by a budget surplus that the state will return to Oregonians this year.

Local politicians are divided on the election date issue. Clatsop County Commissioner Courtney Bangs volunteered with No Tax Oregon in 2025, and she has been outspoken about maintaining a November election date for the referendum.

“Whether it’s May or November, it’s clear Oregonians do not want the $4.3 billion transportation tax,” she said. “The difference is, those who tried to force this tax on us don’t want their names on the ballot next to it in November as a reminder that they failed to listen to the people they’re supposed to represent.”

State Representative Cyrus Javadi agreed that politics play a definite role in this conversation. However, he said there are benefits to moving the election date to May. “There is also a real argument for giving voters a clear and timely chance to weigh in rather than letting uncertainty drag on for months,” he said. “If voters reject the gas tax by a wide margin, that decision should stand on its own. At the end of the day, what matters most is that the public gets the final say, and that the result is clear.”

State Senator Suzanne Weber could not be reached for comment as of the publication deadline.

Thousands of Oregonians are watching as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. Hall said there have already been procedural mishaps, pointing to discrepancies between the bill’s listing as joint House and Senate bill in some places and just a Senate bill in others and a hearing scheduled before the bill’s first reading.

Per Deputy Secretary of State Michael Kaplan, any legislation to reschedule a state measure for the May 2026 primary election should have an emergency clause to allow submission of measure arguments for inclusion in the state voters’ pamphlet.

Hall said she is worried about the emergency clause attached to SB 1599.

“The legislature is continuing a pattern of attaching an emergency clause to bills they do not want voters to file a referendum against,” she said. Kaplan’s recommendation would give potential filers 11 days to collect the 500 signatures or $1,200 to be able to submit arguments for the state voters’ pamphlet. Hall said she was concerned there would not be enough time to gather the resources to submit a measure argument.

Hall said there has been talk of a potential lawsuit against the Legislature if it passes SB 1599.