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Gas tax boost for roads stalls in House Link to break for truckers changes Democrats' minds By PETER WONG SALEM -- A gasoline tax increase for state highway projects sputtered Thursday in the Oregon House, falling short of final approval by three votes. The key to whether House Bill 2082 crosses the legislative finish line appears to lie with about half a dozen members, mostly Democrats. They voted for an increase two months ago, but against it after the Senate linked a 5-cent increase last week to the repeal of weight-mile taxes on truckers. The initial vote was 33 for and 27 against, but a tax increase requires 36 votes to pass in the House. The bill remained alive on a parliamentary maneuver and could be reconsidered. Defeat could send it to a joint House-Senate negotiating committee. But defeat also could doom the chances of an increase for the fourth straight session, because legislative leaders hoped to adjourn the 194-day session this weekend. No tax would result in no $600 million bond issue for highway projects, including a potential $62 million in projects for Medford. Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, said the possibility that the Legislature will do nothing again is even more distasteful to her than the Senate's tying the increase to a new system of truck taxes. "My decision comes down to the fact that the economy is important to me, and if you cannot move goods, you are not going to have an economy," she said. "I do not want us to become the Appalachia of the Northwest. If we continue to refuse to give money to the state to maintain our roads, that is what we are going to become." But Uherbelau and other Democrats decried the action by the Senate last week to link an increase in gasoline taxes with a 29-cent diesel-fuel tax and higher registration fees for trucks. They would replace the 52-year-old weight-mile tax, which supporters say assesses trucks based on the amount of damage they cause roads, but critics say requires too much paperwork and encourages tax evasion. "It makes me extremely angry that the interstate trucking industry has held this over our heads for the three terms I have been here," Uherbelau said. "The industry will not let the idea be considered on its own merits, but tie it with a gasoline tax increase -- and threaten to get rid of it if we do not do what it wants." The Oregon Trucking Association supports repeal, but the Oregon/Idaho chapter of the American Automobile Association says it will petition to refer it to voters if it passes. A proposed compromise would return Oregon to the weight-mile tax in 2006, unless the 2005 Legislature voted otherwise, and require future sessions to make sure that motorists and truckers bear their share of costs for road repairs. Also voting for a revised House Bill 2082 were Reps. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, and Ken Messerle, R-Coos Bay. Voting against it were Reps. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville; Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, and Susan Morgan, R-Myrtle Creek. Rep. Mike Lehman, D-Coos Bay, was one of a handful of House members who did change their votes. Lehman was the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, which worked on the original package. "The alternative to a weight-mile system that is proposed comes about as close as you can get to striking a balance between cars and trucks for the use of our highways," he said. "Unfortunately, it still does not have those who use the highways pay their fair share." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA