Oregon Senate lawmakers approved a bill to raise the state’s lodging tax, which will now be sent to Gov. Tina Kotek.
House Bill 4134 passed Wednesday by a 20-9 vote, with one lawmaker excused. The bill, which passed the Oregon House by a required three-fifths majority of 36-22 last week, would raise the statewide lodging tax from 1.5% to 2.75%. The bill would fund state conservation efforts and compensate ranchers who lose livestock to wolf attacks.
Proponents have described it as a bipartisan bill that is forecast to generate approximately $38 million per year for those purposes. Opponents say increasing the lodging tax now will slow the recovery of the state’s hotel industry.
An Oregon hotel and restaurant lobbyist blasted the bill Wednesday after it passed the Senate.
Jason Brandt, president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, said the bill “dismantles one of Oregon’s last remaining revenue streams dedicated for economic development, completely ignoring Gov. Tina Kotek’s efforts to boost prosperity throughout the state.”
In the House last week, it garnered just enough votes to pass after three Democrats voted against the bill and three Republicans voted to approve it.
In the Senate Wednesday, a similar dynamic played out as lawmakers lobbed intra-party critiques.
Speaking in opposition, Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, quipped that he couldn’t see how raising taxes would help cattle.
“What is the connection of this tax to the rear end of a cow?” Girod said on the Senate floor before voting no.
Bill sponsor Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, fired back at Girod’s cow query: “That’s usually where the wolf attacks.”
Nash said ranchers in his rural eastern Oregon district see some of the highest rates of wolf attacks on cattle.
“It’s been devastating,” he said.
Nash added that he wasn’t “thrilled” to use the lodging tax increase for the compensation fund.
“But in the end, it’s going to be a small amount,” he said.
