I don’t think I knew what my gas taxes paid for, maybe you know. Transportation funding is about to be cut and potentially significantly by the Oregon Legislature. Why should you care?
Well, here goes…
Your gas taxes fund obvious things like roads and transit districts. It also funds special transportation dollars for programs delivering vital services for people in need. Locally, these special transportation funds provide funding for Call-A-Ride. Call-A-Ride, a program of Community Volunteer Network, provides nonemergency medical transportation for people over 55 and people with disabilities. These rides can be for doctor appointments, physical therapy, and other things or even dialysis, life-saving treatment. Special transportation funds also cover the transportation program for Living Opportunities. This agency has a beautiful mission that people with disabilities can live in the same neighborhoods, hold jobs, and be in community with all of us without disabilities. And the transportation funds are critical for medical appointments, jobs and getting out into the community.
Special transportation funds also fund United Way of Jackson County’s transportation work. Through our work, we reduce barriers for low-income people, people with disabilities (whether visible or not), and aging folks to get where they want and need to go. They fund our travel training to help agencies and individuals figure out how to ride the bus. They help us to do our systems change work for transportation to be an inclusive place for all of us to get around. Our wheelchair charging station was one of our transportation initiatives.
And we need your help! This week on Thursday, August 8, from 5-8 pm at the Mace Building at the Jackson County Expo Center, 1 Peninger St., Central Point, the Joint Committee on Transportation is holding a public hearing on these funds.
You can attend, and you must register if you plan to speak, to show support for these funds.
- You register at https://survey.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cO9vPo88jopKrgW
Registration closes at 5 pm on August 7, 2024.
- You can submit an email to jct.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov or you can write a letter to the Joint Committee on Transportation, 900 Court St. NE, Room 453, Salem, OR 97301. Written comments must also arrive by August 7, 2024, so you’d need to mail it today in hopes of it arriving in Salem!
There are four ways to engage: show up, speak, email, or write a letter!
Here’s a friendly aside on part of the funding struggle. So why are gas taxes not going up? There are a variety of reasons. COVID funding is done. ARPA (America Rescue Plan) funds are done as well. And with the increasing purchase of electric cars, gas taxes are decreasing. This will continue as more and more people make these choices. This means a longer-term solution must be planned for if it’s going to impact special transportation funds for people in need. Here’s your chance to advocate for positive change!
Onward,
