Oregon Senate passes bill to reschedule gas tax referral despite GOP opposition

After several delays and an encroaching Wednesday deadline, a proposal to reschedule the date of a gas tax referendum to May finally passed the Oregon Senate.

The Senate voted 17-13 mostly along party lines Monday to pass Senate Bill 1599, which would move the date that Oregon voters can approve or reject parts of a controversial 2025 transportation law from the November general election to the May 19 primary.

The bill’s Senate passage marks one of the largest hurdles Democrats faced this legislative session as Republicans vowed to do everything in their power to stop them from moving the date of the referendum. That included senators staging a walkout last week on the day the chamber was originally expected to take up the bill and attempts to delay it Monday by proposing motions to take up the bill at a later date or refer it back to the committee process.

Democrats spearheading the bill say moving the referendum to May would work in the interest of Oregonians who rely on safe transportation infrastructure as years of deferred maintenance and increasing construction costs have stunted the Oregon Department of Transportation’s ability to fix state roads.



https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/02/23/oregon-senate-passes-bill-to-move-gas-tax-referral-despite-gop-opposition/