Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current situation with ODOT's funding and HB 3991?
The Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 3991 in September 2025 to provide transportation funding needed to support ODOT operations, cancel planned layoffs, and maintain winter service levels. Petitioners submitted signatures to refer portions of HB 3991 to voters. As a result, most of the bill's new revenue is delayed pending a statewide vote. ODOT will continue to implement HB 3991 and allocate funding according to existing law until directed otherwise.
Without that new revenue, ODOT faces a funding gap of $242 million for the current 2025–2027 budget cycle.
How do the remaining elements of HB 3991 impact ODOT?
The remaining parts of HB 3991 will increase costs and workload while reducing revenue in the short term.
The law leaves several costs in place, including annual transfers of $3 million for rest areas and $500,000 for the Small Cities program. There are also costs of implementing the expanded road usage charge program, truck taxation modernization and accountability provisions. Together, these costs are estimated at about $12 million in the current budget cycle, with only limited new revenue to offset them.
Implementing these requirements requires significant staff time across the agency. If ODOT is also facing staffing reductions, completing this work would be difficult and could require service cuts elsewhere.
Could the funding gap change?
Yes. The final size of the funding gap depends on legislative action during the upcoming session. There are options that could reduce or eliminate the gap.
What caused ODOT's maintenance funding crisis?
The crisis is driven by flattening gas tax revenues as vehicles become more fuel-efficient, legal restrictions on how transportation funds can be used and inflation. These issues have persisted despite years of cost-cutting.
We started to see the problem in 2019 when costs were beginning to rise but revenue for operations and maintenance was not. Since 2019, ODOT has been cutting more and more to avoid going over a spending cliff. That has included:
- Consolidating facilities
- Moving DMV and CCD services online
- Reducing facilities and fleet spending
- Holding more than 700 positions vacant
What funding scenarios is ODOT planning for?
ODOT is planning for a range of funding scenarios that will be determined by the outcome of the 2026 legislative session. The legislature could decide to provide:
- Enough resources or flexibility to maintain priority services and avoid layoffs
- Partial resources or flexibility, requiring some service and staffing reductions
- No additional resources or flexibility, requiring deeper cuts and layoffs
ODOT developed a tired reduction framework for the legislature to illustrate the scale of potential impacts. The tiers are designed to provide examples of how reductions would occur at varying levels of available funding. They are planning tools to help show the consequences associated with each level of funding.
As ODOT developed these tiers, the leading priority was to protect the direct, frontline services that Oregonians rely on every day. The agency focused first on reducing spending on services and supplies and using savings from vacant positions to preserve the existing workforce and minimize impacts to safety and system operations.
The tiers illustrate the potential scale of personnel and spending reductions under three funding scenarios:
- If the legislature provides or redirects some funding, but does not fully close the gap, requiring $70 million in reductions (Tier 1). These cuts would primarily come from savings the agency has already achieved through belt-tightening, holding 138 available positions vacant, and further reducing services and supplies. There are no layoffs in this scenario.
- If the legislature provides or redirects some funding that closes roughly half the gap, requiring $140 million in reductions (Tier 2). Taking $140 million in reductions would require eliminating 279 vacancies and laying off 71 people.
- If the legislature does not provide or redirect any funding and we need to take the full $242 million in reductions (Tier 3). This level reflects the cumulative impacts shown in Tiers 1 and 2, along with additional reductions. In this scenario, 1,039 positions would be eliminated, including 471 layoffs.
Are there projects or program funding that could be redirected to maintenance and operations?
On Jan. 7, Governor Kotek called for legislators to look at opportunities to shift funding within ODOT's budget from projects and programs into general operations and maintenance by changing the law to allow us to spend money more flexibly.
Without new revenue (new taxes or fees), one of the options the legislature has is redirecting existing state funds to operations and maintenance that are currently legally restricted to other programs or projects. On Feb. 10, Interim Director Lisa Sumption and Finance and Budget Division Administrator Daniel Porter gave a presentation to the Joint Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development about the options in front of ODOT and the legislature to solve the $242 million gap. You can watch a recording of that hearing here.
Broadly, the funds that are available for the legislature to redirect are state funds in this budget cycle that are dedicated by law to other purposes but have not yet been obligated. Potential revenue sources include:
- HB2017 (2017) highway funds for construction projects
- Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund for public transportation
- Privilege tax funds for Connect Oregon and Community Paths
- Transportation Operating Fund
All of these options require legislative action, as ODOT and the Oregon Transportation Commission have already maximized opportunities to shift funding to maintenance within state and federal law.
Ultimately, the legislature may choose to close the budget gap through cuts, shifting funding, or a combination of the two.
Is ODOT planning layoffs right now?
ODOT is working with unions and the Department of Administrative Service to ensure there is a clear layoff process in the event the agency must go through layoffs to address the funding gap. While the agency has gone through preliminary planning for potential scenarios, no layoff notices will be sent until funding decisions are finalized and layoffs become unavoidable.
If reductions become necessary, what services would ODOT prioritize?
If reductions become necessary, ODOT would focus first on protecting services that directly affect public safety and daily travel. This includes road maintenance and winter operations, emergency/incident response and direct customer service functions such as DMV services.
The goal would be to preserve frontline work that Oregonians rely on most, limiting impacts to those services as much as possible.
Has ODOT already taken reductions?
Since 2019, ODOT has reduced spending by about $450 million due to lack of funding. These cuts have helped manage costs and prioritize critical services in the short term. But ODOT's ability to serve Oregonians and keep roads safe and open to traffic continues to deteriorate as funding is stretched farther.
In the 2023-2025 budget cycle, ODOT voluntarily reduced its budget by more than $170 million. This biennium, the agency already took three major reductions totaling more than $150 million:
- Spending that was phased out last budget cycle due to cash constraints is no longer budgeted, saving about $69 million this budget cycle.
- Funding for rehabilitating and replacing maintenance stations was removed from the budget, saving about $38 million compared to last budget cycle.
- The legislature reduced the budget by about $46 million, primarily by reducing vacant positions.
During a time of continued financial uncertainty, more than 360 employees have left the agency since July 2025, leaving many more positions vacant.
Why is ODOT continuing to hire while facing a shortfall?
At Governor Kotek's direction, ODOT hired for some critical winter maintenance positions to protect public safety and ensure essential services during severe weather. A small number of other critical positions, primarily in DMV customer service, are also being filled to maintain basic service levels. Recruitment for most other positions remains paused, and hundreds more than 700 vacancies continue to be held open to manage costs.
Why can't ODOT use federal funds or shift money from projects?
Federal funds are largely restricted to capital projects and cannot be used for maintenance or operations. Oregon law also limits ODOT's ability to shift funding between categories without legislative action.