Mayor’s Corner January 2025

2025 Legislative Session and Transportation

The Oregon Legislative Assembly will begin on January 21, 2025 and one of the major subjects will be crafting a comprehensive transportation funding package which prioritizes investments in operations, maintenance, and safety.

The below is a list of Tualatin’s suggestions that will be passed onto our legislators:

• A funding package should be dynamic in securing revenue from varied sources so that both local and state agencies have the capacity to deliver services to the driver and rider.
• This transportation funding package should be expansive in creating opportunities to leverage federal matching funds for local and state projects that make a significant impact to our region. Limiting funds to local communities limits federal opportunities for local communities.
• Protecting the 50% state/30% county/20% city gas tax revenue formula built into the State Highway Fund is a must. This is true for existing revenue, and any future revenue that feeds into the State Highway Fund. If funding is not secured for cities and counties, local jurisdictions will bear the brunt of its negative impacts.  
• In order to maintain our roads, increase safety for all road users, and manage traffic diverting from highways onto local roads, this transportation package must ensure that local and state partners have the funding needed to do this critical work.  
• The transportation funding package must finish the commitments made in HB 2017 and HB 3055, including widening I-205 and finishing bridge improvements between Stafford Road and Abernethy Bridge.  
• The package must provide improvements to our transit system by boosting regional coordination, by upgrading transit operations, and by fostering equitable access to transit.  
• To provide sustainable long-term funding for first- and last-mile transit solutions, we must commit to completing gaps in transit service, sidewalks, and bike lanes.    
• The cost of housing is pushing more and more people to the fringe of urban areas and leading to increased growth and traffic in rural areas. The transportation networks that connect these communities now have levels of traffic that those roads were not designed to accommodate. We must think about how growth and transportation investments work together.
• Transparency is key with all public dollars, and nearly all Oregonians touch the road system and therefore need to see and trust that their transportation tax dollars are being used well. 

The legislature will not have an easy task in developing the components of this much needed transportation package. The City of Tualatin stands ready to assist and provide input during the coming legislative session.