Last modified: Saturday, August 9, 2008 10:49 PM PDT Gas prices might crimp Oregon transportation plan By BRAD CAIN Associated Press SALEM — Barbara Brown is taking the bus to work these days, or walking on nice days. Her decision was cemented the day she stopped at a gas station to fill up her SUV and had to shell out $67. ‘‘When I looked at my gas card statement, it was, ‘Good grief! This is terrible!’ ‘‘ says the 62-year-old Salem resident, who works as a secretary at the state Department of Education. Brown isn’t alone. State transportation officials say the high cost of gasoline is causing Oregon motorists to use less of it — a plus for the environment and efforts to curb global warming but a source of bumps in the road for those using the highways. Reduced gasoline consumption could put a crimp in the biggest single source of money for Oregon’s road and bridge program — the state’s 24-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax. Sky-high gasoline prices also could create political problems for a transportation improvement package that Gov. Ted Kulongoski, some state lawmakers and various interest groups are preparing for the Legislature next year. Those familiar with the package in the works say it’s going to be ambitious and potentially expensive, likely requiring lawmakers at least to consider raising the gas tax. ‘‘Everyone acknowledges these are tough times for Oregonians, and that it is a difficult atmosphere in which to pass a gas tax,’’ said Chip Terhune, the governor’s chief of staff. ‘‘But it is too early to take it off the table.’’ In the 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions, lawmakers backed Kulongoski’s ‘‘Connect Oregon’’ program, relatively modest efforts that used $100 million in lottery-backed bonds to improve ports, local airports and rail facilities. The Legislature in 2003 approved a more ambitious, $2.5-billion program mostly to replace or repair cracking bridges, a package financed with bonds paid off with increased vehicle registration and license fees. Now, there’s growing momentum for a comprehensive transportation package for 2009 that would include road and bridge improvements to keep up with wear-and-tear and increasing traffic congestion around Oregon. That could entail serious money, though, and for state policymakers the question becomes: How do you pay for it at a time when consumers are struggling with $4-a-gallon gasoline? Democratic and Republican leaders in the Oregon House rarely agree on much. But in interviews last week, both expressed doubts about raising the gas tax. ‘‘I think it is unlikely the Legislature will increase the gas tax in 2009. Gas prices are really high, and Oregonians are getting pinched at the pump,’’ said House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone. House GOP Leader Bruce Hanna of Roseburg was more emphatic, saying that people already are paying too much. ‘‘You just can’t kick them when they’re down,’’ he said. Even when gasoline was cheaper, the tax hasn’t been popular. Oregonians trounced the most recent ballot measure — a nickel-a-gallon increase in the year 2000. The tax is supposed to bring in about $400 million a year for state and local road, highway and bridge projects. For the first six months of this year, though, as fuel prices have climbed, gasoline sales have been off by 1 or 2 percent each month compared with the previous year, state figures show. If that trend holds up in the coming months, state gas tax receipts could fall by $20 million to $25 million for the year, said David Kavanaugh, chief transportation economist for the Oregon Department of Transportation. ‘‘It’s largely due to a slowing of the Oregon economy coupled with high, sustained prices at the gas pump,’’ Kavanaugh said. Many of those are involved in the latest debate say reduced gas consumption, increased fuel efficiency of vehicles and the move to alternative fuels have made the gas tax a less important source of highway revenue and that lawmakers need to elsewhere for transportation dollars. State Sen. Rick Metsger of Welches, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he agrees with that as a long-term strategy. But for now, he said, the gasoline tax is still the dominant source of highway revenue. A gas tax increase needs to be in the mix of potential ways to raise new revenue for Oregon’s transportation system — along with possible increases in vehicle registration and title fees, Metsger said. ‘‘Everything should be on the table,’’ he said. ‘‘I doubt that any of those three will be left out of the package.’’ But Brown said there’s enough pain at the pump as it is and lawmakers shouldn’t make gasoline even more expensive for her to get to her secretary job. ‘‘I just don’t think it’s right that they should put a new tax on top of something that already costs so much,’’ she said.