Salem, Ore. — As Oregon faces a growing gap in funding for its transportation infrastructure, lawmakers are revisiting a market-based approach to emissions reduction that could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for road and bridge repairs.
In a memo sent Thursday to House and Senate caucus leaders, Sen. Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale) and Rep. Susan McLain (D-Forest Grove), co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment, outlined plans to replace Oregon’s existing Climate Protection Program with a new cap-and-trade style system linked to other West Coast states.
The proposed program would allow polluters, particularly gas and diesel companies, to buy and trade carbon credits. Revenues generated from the sale of these credits would be dedicated primarily to the state highway fund, with portions allocated for wildfire mitigation, community-based nonprofits, and transit programs.
“We are making significant progress toward a plan that will keep Oregon’s roads and bridges safe,” Gorsek and McLain said in a joint statement. “Members of both parties are working together to develop a proposal that will address the issues we have been focused on all along: safety, maintenance, and long-term sustainability.”
The announcement marks a notable shift in Oregon’s political landscape. Previous cap-and-trade proposals were defeated by Republican lawmakers in 2019 and 2020, who walked out of sessions to block votes and deny quorum. Instead, then-Governor Kate Brown issued an executive order to launch the Climate Protection Program.
This legislative session, Republicans have largely backed a competing plan that would increase road and bridge funding by cutting investments in bike and pedestrian safety as well as public transit. However, a handful of Republican lawmakers — Reps. Jeff Helfrich (Hood River), Kevin Mannix (Salem), and Sens. Bruce Starr (Dundee) and Suzanne Weber (Tillamook) — have collaborated with Democrats to explore alternative solutions.
The current political balance in the Oregon House underscores the importance of bipartisan support for any transportation funding package. Democrats hold a slim majority with 36 members but are temporarily down to 35 after Rep. Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville) was appointed to the Senate. Her replacement will not be named until June 6. Another Democratic representative, Hòa Nguyễn (Portland), has been absent from the Capitol since February due to stage 4 cancer treatment.
Draft language for the new emissions program is expected in the coming days as the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment prepares for its first meeting Tuesday. Lawmakers also plan to form a workgroup to develop the details of the replacement program for Oregon’s Climate Protection Program.
The proposed linkage of carbon credit revenues to transportation funding represents a bold attempt to marry climate policy with infrastructure priorities, aiming to create a sustainable, long-term funding mechanism for Oregon’s transportation needs.
