fischer.bsky.social
full stack content engineer, portlander, t1d
he/him
4,103 posts
1,251 followers
874 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
my father’s name is bill
comment in response to
post
ok I got to testify and now I am off to go to my anniversary dinner with my lovely girlfriend. hope this bill dies and good luck to everyone else waiting to testify
comment in response to
post
representative from the oregon transit association testifying about transit cuts resulting from the bill, leading to service cuts for vulnerable riders and 500+ layoffs of unionized transit operators
comment in response to
post
another commissioner testifying mentions that when he checked testimony the only two testifiers in favor of the bill were ODOT and the governor. lol
comment in response to
post
benton county commissioner testifying against the removal of the 50/30/20 revenue split. mentions a number of other county commissioners across the state who planned to testify but were unable to because of the 2 hour delay
comment in response to
post
wilson also mentions that traffic safety response team will have fewer staff to respond to urgent needs for crosswalks and stop signs
comment in response to
post
wilson testifying now (after testimony from a couple other oomfs). "deeply disappointed" to be here opposing HB3402-3 over the loss of funding for the city of portland and resulting PBOT layoffs
comment in response to
post
actually bobby levi, boshart davis is now testifying bsky.app/profile/evan...
comment in response to
post
rep boshart david is testifying against raising revenue at all. arguing that we should not even attempt to find transportation funding because a three cent gas tax increase will destroy rural life
comment in response to
post
says that layoffs will start on monday without this bill, and we need to get back at the table for a comprehensive package
comment in response to
post
kotek: "this solution is a bandaid in every sense of the word. it leaves communities relying on state funds empty handed." acknowledges lack of funds for transit and safe streets
comment in response to
post
HB 2025 did not have enough funding for ODOT's maintenance backlog, or to complete the projects we (regrettably) committed to in that bill. and many infrastructure costs have risen faster than inflation. not a good comparison
comment in response to
post
on the other hand, the only possible upside of delaying the bill to the next long session is potential legislative seat pickups in the 2026 blue wave
comment in response to
post
there are various reasons (bad ODOT cost control, gas taxes that aren't indexed to inflation bring less revenue over time) but arguably the fundamental reason is what strong towns calls the suburban ponzi scheme, where low density sprawl inevitably loses money on infrastructure in the long term
comment in response to
post
I remember when they responsibly overestimated potential office leasing income by 50 million dollars
comment in response to
post
we had a candidate for portland city council propose doing this last year, funded by hotel taxes. unfortunately he was a bike cop who was disliked (for good reasons) for transit advocates so it didn't really pick up steam
comment in response to
post
that's true, I guess it would be more accurate to acknowledge that there are several republicans who are more interested in governing than some of the democrats in salem
comment in response to
post
the entire package was derailed because one of the democrats on the transportation committee decided he didn't want to vote for tax increases and started lying about the bill having tolling in it
comment in response to
post
maybe someday
comment in response to
post
roads aren't a priority for voters, because every ten years the legislature passes a transportation bill that funds road maintenance and adjusts taxes that aren't bringing in enough revenue. if you stop paying for maintenance, you will find out very quickly that voters actually do care
comment in response to
post
unfortunately governor kotek doesn't really care about transportation issues
comment in response to
post
comment in response to
post
this blew up, if you’re reading this please submit testimony opposing useless half measure HB 3402: bsky.app/profile/thes...
comment in response to
post
wow these mfs really are useless
comment in response to
post
progressives have a plan to pay to maintain our state highways and bridges. centrists think that if you cover your ears and eyes the problem goes away
comment in response to
post
if they pass a small gas tax increase instead of the full bill that should help alleviate that but I’m not sure by how much
comment in response to
post
the filibuster is the bigger barrier to progressive legislation right now I’d say. but the last time we got a big regulatory change passed through the senate (obamacare) it only survived by one vote with a much less conservative court
comment in response to
post
I find it really hard to argue having watched a bunch of these that this council needs to talk less, rather than meeting more often. what we do need is for people to stop giving speeches during roll call for votes lol
comment in response to
post
3 cent gas tax bump. no STIF increase
comment in response to
post
the formula is like half population and half payroll based, I don’t think you’d see a huge difference if you changed it to be entirely population based and I’m not sure that would be entirely fair either — higher wages on the portland metro also mean higher operations and capital costs!
comment in response to
post
facts
comment in response to
post
trimet should get an outsized portion of STIF funds because the portland metro is half the population of the state. if small agencies aren’t getting enough STIF funding we should raise the overall rate, or you could create a bend-specific payroll tax like we have in metro and lane county
comment in response to
post
firmly believe this would fix every problem we have in this city
comment in response to
post
the meek, ineffectual neoliberal centrist spending millions in PCEF money to subsidize 50 units in office to residential conversions vs the bold and innovative sewer socialist financing thousands of units of social housing in downtown high rises
comment in response to
post
that is the most annoying oregon politics shibboleth. you hear people say that and then as soon as you get involved in legislative advocacy at all people will tell you that nothing gets passed if you can’t find an angle on how it’ll help people in scappoose and klamath falls
comment in response to
post
when you think about it it’s really kinda perverse that dems are fighting to fund rural road maintenance and transit by closing a loophole where EV drivers don’t pay road user fees and republicans are vehemently opposed