Green Groups Unhappy With Transportation Bill, Call For Changes
Not that long ago, Oregon’s top environmental groups were optimistic, almost excited, about getting more money for mass transit, biking and walkable neighborhoods. They put their hopes in House Bill 2001, the giant transportation bill that will guide spending over the next two years.
My how things have changed.
Late this week, those same groups say the bill has morphed into a money for roads bill that leaves little to spend on other forms of transportation. “What started as a balanced transportation package has become an $840 million highway funding bill that takes the state backward,” says Bob Stacey, with 1000 Friends of Oregon. “We can’t support the package in its current form.”
HB 2001 includes a list of 50 road building or road widening projects for Oregon. But only 37 of them are funded in the bill. The money would come from increased gas taxes and vehicle fees.
In a letter to Governor Kulongoski, the groups are calling for three major changes.
- Require plans for cutting global warming pollution from cars and trucks in the fastest growing areas of the state. Right now, the bill only includes the Portland metro area.
- Increase spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects to a minimum of 1.5% of what’s spent for roads. Or create a new funding source for these kinds projects.
- Have the Transportation Commission review the road projects in the bill and decide if they really are the best way to spend the money. The current list has been criticized as pork because many of the projects have been submitted by individual lawmakers.
The letter was signed by 1000 Friends of Oregon, Oregon Environmental Council, Environment Oregon, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
For an interesting perspective on the issue, see this posting by former senatorial candidate Steve Novick on Blue Oregon.
The Special Joint Committee On Transportation held a hearing on HB 2001 Thursday night, and continues work on the bill starting at 1pm in Hearing Room F. If you can’t be there in person you can follow along via streaming video on the Oregon Channel website.
