Latest news with #ODOT
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ODOT layoffs impact nearly 500 employees, largest in state government history, Gov. Kotek says
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – More than 480 employees with the Oregon Department of Transportation received layoff notices today, and that number is expected to grow by next year. The notices arrived just a week after Oregon's legislative session ended . A second round of layoffs is expected to begin in early 2026. Oregon House Republican leader Christine Drazan told KOIN 6 that ODOT's budget issues and price hikes 'We're talking about an agency that has a culture that refuses to stay within their budget and produce on behalf of Oregonians,' she said. Travis Decker sighting reported in Idaho, US Marshal's office investigating In total, the layoffs are expected to . According to Gov. Tina Kotek, this would mark the largest mass layoff in the history of Oregon state government. 'These layoffs constitute an emergency in Oregon's transportation system that will hurt every part of Oregon,' Kotek said in a statement Monday. 'While we sharpened our pencils to temper the pace of layoffs from one wave into two, there will not be enough workers to provide the level of response Oregonians rely on, whether it's filling a pothole or clearing a safe passage for evacuation when a fire strikes.' Kotek said Oregon residents could see impacts to road maintenance and safety services — including road closures, graffiti and camp cleanups, and signage replacements — as early as this summer. In the winter, these cuts could impact how quickly snow and ice get removed from roads. 'I feel like they're not very prepared for a lot of severe weather, weather incidents,' said Oregon driver Anna Nelson. 'Roads around here aren't my favorite.' Victim identified after Portland Central Library shooting In response, Kotek has urged for adjustments within ODOT. A recently developed plan will likely cut purchases of certain materials like sand, delay vehicle replacements, and close fewer maintenance stations. However, the future of ODOT remains uncertain — especially as winter approaches. 'This emergency was preventable, and we still have time to intervene. I have not and will not stop fighting for Oregonians who rely on us to keep our roads safe and people and products moving. Come winter, without a shared commitment to solve this crisis from partners and lawmakers, Oregonians will be left out in the cold – literally.' Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel begins layoffs to become ‘leaner, faster, more efficient company'
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Intel has in an effort to become what the company calls a 'more lean and efficient' company. The tech giant told KOIN 6 News the decision is part of the new CEO's vision for the future that was . ODOT layoffs impact nearly 500 employees, largest in state government history, Gov. Kotek says A spokesperson for Intel shared the following statement: 'As we announced earlier this year, we are taking steps to become a leaner, faster and more efficient company. Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution. We are making these decisions based on careful consideration of what's needed to position our business for the future, and we will treat people with care and respect as we complete this important work.' Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
ODOT announces road closures in southern Portage County beginning in July
The Ohio Department of Transportation said it will begin closing several roads in southern Portage County for culvert replacements during the second half of July. Closures and detours will include: Beginning July 21, State Route 43, just north of Randolph Road in Suffield Township, will be closed through early August for a culvert replacement. The detour will be US Route 224 to SR 532 to Interstate 76 to SR 43. Beginning July 23, SR 44, just south of Tallmadge Road in Rootstown Township, will be closed through early August for two culvert replacements. The detour will be Interstate 76 east to SR 14 to SR 183 to US Route 224. Beginning July 28, US Route 224, just east of SR 183 in Atwater Township, will be closed through Aug. 8 for two culvert replacements. The detour will be SR 183 to SR 14 to U.S. 224. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: ODOT announces road closures in southern Portage County in July
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Oregon Legislature's last-ditch attempt for 3-cent gas tax increase fails
Oregon Department of Transportation workers fill a pothole on U.S. Highway 97 near Chemult in 2016 (Oregon Department of Transportation/Flickr) Oregon Democrats' last-ditch effort to stave off hundreds of layoffs at the Oregon Department of Transportation by passing a 3-cent gas tax increase failed late Friday night after House Republicans refused to allow a vote. House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, introduced the last-minute amendment earlier Friday, pulling the plug on a transportation package more than a year in the making. Supporters and opponents alike described the proposed 3-cent gas tax increase and hike to vehicle registration and title fees as nothing more than a Band-Aid. But the Oregon Department of Transportation won't have even that Band-Aid to staunch the bleeding. The Legislature adjourned for the year shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, after House Republicans refused to waive House rules to allow a vote. The bill would have raised about $2 billion over the next 10 years, a far cry from the $11.7 billion lawmakers aimed to raise earlier. House Majority Leader and committee chair Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, said he was 'extremely frustrated' at what the bill became and that it is 'not a transportation package.' 'I believe that people will die because we are not going to fund the broader transportation safety measures that our system needs,' he said. 'My 'yes' vote tonight is because a 'no' vote is a vote not to pay for paving, not to pay for fault line striping, not to pay for filling potholes, not to pay for snow plowing. We have to protect these services.' Testifying on the bill just after 6 p.m. on Friday, Gov. Tina Kotek said she understood how difficult it is to accept that a bill months in the making won't succeed. But right now, she said, the most important thing is to make sure the Oregon Department of Transportation has the money it needs to avoid 600 to 700 layoffs. If the Legislature fails to pass the amendment, Kotek said she will begin to let workers go by as soon as Monday. 'No one is arguing that this solution is sufficient,' Kotek said. 'It is a Band-Aid in every sense of the word.' The bill would increase the state's 40-cent gas tax by 3 cents, hike vehicle registration fees from $43 to $64 and increase vehicle title fees from $77 to $168. The roughly $2 billion estimated to result from those increases would go to the Oregon Department of Transportation, leaving cities and counties without additional funds. The measure also includes some accountability measures, such as requiring regular audits of the transportation department and shifting responsibility to hire and fire the department's director from the Oregon Transportation Commission to the governor. Still, opponents including Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, said that wasn't enough to justify the higher costs to taxpayers, especially the rural residents she represents who must drive more than their urban counterparts. 'We can't just keep asking Oregonians — especially those who are already economically vulnerable — to pay more into a system that hasn't proven it can manage the resources it has,' Levy told the committee. Republicans issued their own proposals to raise money for roads and bridges that would not increase any taxes, but instead take and use millions of dollars meant for electric vehicle and bus programs, bike and pedestrian programs and climate programs. The death of the original transportation package, House Bill 2025, is a blow to a legislative effort months in the making. Lawmakers traveled the state last summer, seeking public input on plans to overhaul the state's transportation funding system. The latest measure eliminates proposed increases to the transit payroll tax, which would have gradually tripled from 0.1% to 0.3%. Without the payroll tax increase, officials at Portland's public transit agency TriMet said they'd have to cut 27% of their bus service, eliminating 45 of 79 bus lines. The tax increase would have cost an Oregonian making the state's median annual income about $10 per month, according to TriMet's analysis. Transit supporters and other Oregonians who waited hours for the hearing to begin lambasted lawmakers for not listening to them. Cassie Wilson, transportation policy manager for the nonprofit community planning group 1000 Friends of Oregon, said she opposed the amendment and wants lawmakers to vote on the $11.7 billion transportation tax-and-spending package instead. 'Transit keeps the 30% of Oregonians who can't or don't drive moving,' she said. Bill Bradley, executive board officer for ATU Local 757, a public transit workers union, said up to 500 members could lose their jobs in the coming year if the state does not pass a more robust funding package. Melissa Unger, executive director of the Service Employees International Union Local 503 that represents many transportation department employees, said her members supported everything advocates of the earlier bill wanted. With time running out before the Legislature must adjourn by Sunday, Unger said they needed some assurance that workers won't lose their jobs. 'We ask that you either pass this or do something so that people in the next two weeks across our state and in every county do not receive layoff notices,' she said. A proposal to mandate electric vehicle users pay a per-mile fee also didn't make the final bill. All tax increases in that bill are intended for the state transportation department, worrying cities and counties. Historically, transportation revenue has been split between the state, counties and cities, with the state taking 50%, 30% going to counties and 20% for cities. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said the bill 'completely sidelines' local needs and means Oregon's largest city will lose about 60 employees. 'It jeopardizes dozens of essential city jobs and undermines our ability to perform basic safety functions like filling potholes and implementing traffic safety improvements,' Wilson said. 'In Portland, this means 300 streetlights that we won't be able to repair this year.' Benton County Commissioner Gabe Shepherd said he was one of about 20 county commissioners from around the state who waited hours to testify. 'Local governments cannot be left behind,' Shepherd said. 'We cannot be an afterthought. We cannot be a fix for later.' The long-awaited transportation package faced headwinds in recent days, as Republicans and moderate Democrats lined up against it. Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, was the only Republican to publicly support the larger measure, saying it wasn't perfect but was better than nothing, while Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, doubled down on his objection to it. 'From the correspondence I've received from around the state of Oregon and my community both in letters, emails, phone calls, social media posts, I'm doing the right thing for Oregonians,' he said on the Senate floor Friday morning. Following Kotek's Friday testimony, House Republicans welcomed the package's defeat in a press release, slamming Democrats for 'forcing families to pay one of the largest tax hikes in history.' They did not address the Kotek-backed proposed amendment. 'While our work represents a major victory for working-class, low-income, and rural communities, House Republicans will continue to listen to and fight on behalf of Oregonians against any future taxes that raise the cost of living,' said House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby. 'We welcome House Democrats to join us.' Updated at 8:44 p.m. with comments and a vote from the House Rules meeting. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ODOT director calls legislature's transportation bill failure ‘shocking,' ‘scary' warns of layoffs
Dozens of prospective construction and utilities workers attend a career day hosted by the Oregon Department of Transportation in Eastern Oregon on April 25, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation/Flickr) The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to lay off up to 700 employees as soon as the week of July 7, with layoffs taking effect by the end of the month, according to emails from agency leadership obtained by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. The move comes after the Oregon Legislature adjourned for the year Friday without passing a transportation funding bill that the department needs to maintain staff and close a more than $300 million shortfall. ODOT Director Kristopher Strickler said in a 12:22 a.m. email to staff Saturday — sent just hours after House Republicans voted not to move on a funding bill for the agency — that the Legislature's inability to pass a transportation package to keep the agency solvent is 'shocking, scary and frustrating.' Strickler said the email was 'the hardest message I've ever had to send in my career.' Employees who do jobs that are funded by the state highway fund will be most vulnerable to layoffs, he wrote, but the agency is trying to save as many positions as possible by leaving current vacancies unfilled. Still, they said, between 600 and 700 employees would likely be laid off. The consequences of the Legislature's inaction go beyond staffing cuts, according to transportation advocates and local transit agencies, which are preparing for broader challenges to maintain their own aging infrastructure. House Bill 2025, in its original form, would have raised the state gas and payroll taxes, increased vehicle licensing and registration fees and created new taxes on car sales to generate nearly $14.6 billion for the Oregon Department of Transportation and local governments over the next 10 years. By the last day of the session, lawmakers failed to pass a watered-down version that would've raised $2 billion over the next decade only for the state transportation department, by raising the state gas tax 3 cents and increasing licensing and registration fees. Strickler said the only way out of the agency's budget problem is for the Legislature to dedicate additional funding or provide more flexibility in how current funds are spent. He said the costs for inaction from the Legislature will be long-term. 'It's sure to cost the state more in the long run as our assets deteriorate. And that doesn't even account for the immense cost of losing the valuable, irreplaceable knowledge that resides in the ODOT people who have dedicated years – sometimes decades – of their lives to making our agency and transportation system safe and reliable,' he wrote to staff. Some advocates and public officials are urging lawmakers to take action in a special session. The Oregon Transit Association expressed concern that Oregonians would lose access to public transit, pointing to the financial strain and high operation costs transit agencies are already facing. The original transportation proposal would have increased the portion of state payroll taxes that go to public transit from 0.1% to 0.3% over several years. Without an increase, officials at TriMet, Portland's public transit agency, said they have to cut 27% of their bus service, eliminating 45 of 79 bus lines. 'Vital infrastructure jobs are on the line, and our ability to deliver basic safety services like filling potholes and improving traffic conditions is at risk,' Portland Mayor Keith Wilson told the Capital Chronicle. 'I urge the legislature to act quickly and deliver a solution that supports all Oregon communities, including Portland.' Like Wilson, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler previously testified in favor of House Bill 2025, which she said would have especially helped fund safety maintenance needed throughout Highway 97 in Central Oregon. However, Kebler opposed lawmakers' last attempt at a transportation package, House Bill 3402, which proposed to raise taxes and fees to fund the Oregon Department of Transportation and would not have extended any additional funding to cities and counties. 'Any revenue increase for transportation needs to be shared fairly with cities so that we can keep up with increasing demands on our local systems in the face of rising costs,' Kebler told the Capital Chronicle. The City of Bend has worked in past years to increase its transportation funding, but it cannot do it alone, Kebler said, adding that she's hopeful lawmakers will return for a special session. Without a transportation package, counties will be unable to afford safety upgrades such as reflective striping, rumble strips and guard rails, according to Erin Good, a spokesperson for the Association of Oregon Counties. Investments in bridge replacements and improvements to emergency response routes won't happen, and counties will face staff reductions, resulting in less resources for pavement repairs, pothole fixes and routine infrastructure maintenance, she said. Brett Morgan, a lobbyist and transportation policy director at the nonprofit environmental group Climate Solutions said the package could have saved lives. 'These investments could have made a real difference for Oregonians: they would have meant fewer crashes, more lives saved, and stable transit funding that would have enabled people to get to work, school, or the doctor's office,' Morgan said. 'Oregonians deserve a transportation system that is safe, clean, and fair. We will continue to fight to make that vision a reality.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
