Gov. Tina Kotek signs controversial transportation funding plan as deadline approaches

With a Wednesday deadline approaching, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Monday she has signed a transportation funding bill that will raise taxes to bolster funding for the maintenance of Oregon’s bridges and road infrastructure.

She signed the bill Friday, more than a month after Democratic lawmakers pushed it through the Legislature along party lines. The delay appears to have been strategic. Republicans who hope to refer the tax increases to voters next year now have less than two months to gather roughly 78,000 required signatures to get it on the ballot.