Letter to Lawmakers: Do Not Raise My Taxes

Dear Members of the 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly,

Proposals to fix the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) budget hole of nearly $2 billion have mostly included new and increased taxes.

I want to make it explicitly clear: do not raise my taxes.

ODOT has shown that the core issue is not a budgetary shortage, but a misplacement of priorities. 

ODOT should be using its budget to effectively build, upgrade, and maintain state transportation systems. 

Instead, ODOT has increasingly pulled state resources toward projects that do not align with ODOT’s core mission. 

The legislature should be focused on realigning ODOT’s work with its mission, not on taking more money out of my pocket.

Oregon already has some of the highest tax rates in the nation. The last thing we Oregonians need is for our taxes to go up because an agency that is supposed to serve us has lost focus. 

Please stand up for me and my fellow Oregonians. Do not raise my taxes.