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Senate has two shots at funding road work By PETER WONG SALEM -- The Senate will have one shot, and possibly two, at gasoline-tax bills for new state highway projects. One revision of House Bill 2082, which the Senate Transportation Committee approved Tuesday, proposes a smaller tax increase for motorists and a new form of taxation for truckers to raise money for road work. The other revision, dubbed "Plan B" by the committee chairwoman, would compel the state to use part of its current gasoline tax for new projects. The first version moves to a vote of the full Senate, where 18 votes are required to pass it. It finally emerged Tuesday after Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, went over its details with Chairwoman Marylin Shannon, R-Brooks, seated by his side. Adams also trimmed the committee from seven to five members, requiring only three votes for passage. The Senate version proposes: An increase of 5 cents per gallon, instead of 6 cents approved by the House, in the 24-cent state tax. An increase of $10 in the two-year vehicle registration fee, now $30, the same as in the House version. State highway bonds of $600 million to be supported by 1 cent of the new gasoline taxes and a portion of the higher registration fee. The House version would use 2 cents of the 6-cent increase for the bonds. The Oregon Department of Transportation has identified $725 million in qualifying projects, including $62 million for revisions of the north and south Medford interchanges with Interstate 5 and a connection between Highway 62 and Highway 238 in west Medford. The Transportation Commission would submit a list of projects to a legislative committee for review, but the Legislature would not pick projects. Another increase of $10 in the registration fee, which commissioners in any county could impose after a public hearing and vote. The House version limited that option to four Willamette Valley counties. Replacement of weight-mile taxes for truckers with a diesel-fuel tax of 29 cents per gallon and an 11-fold increase or greater in registration fees, effective July 1, 2000. The House version made no changes in the weight-mile tax, which is based on the mileage of heavy trucks on state highways. Distribution of 50 percent to the state, 30 percent to counties and 20 percent to cities after two years. The current formula is 60 percent to the state, 24 percent to counties and 16 percent to cities. Shannon said after Tuesday's committee vote she still prefers a no-tax alternative, which she unveiled Monday, that would require ODOT to use part of the state's current gasoline taxes to pay for the $600 million in highway bonds. She has dubbed it "Plan B." Adams said he wants an up-or-down vote on an increase in gasoline taxes, backed by Associated Oregon Industries, the state's largest business lobbying organization. Both Senate versions would eliminate the weight-mile tax, which has been a goal of the Oregon Trucking Association. It helped doom a gas-tax increase two years ago. "Studies in state after state show that registration fees are the least evaded tax," said Marshall Coba, a trucking lobbyist. "We are confident of collecting taxes owed by truckers who today are not paying them." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA