By State Representative Cyrus Javadi
The big lie is this: that there is enough money in ODOT’s budget to both fix roads and maintain them.
News flash, there is not, and there hasn’t been for a long time.
And unless Oregon gets serious about taking care of its most basic responsibility (safe, clean, functional infrastructure) the costs will eventually be measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars, lost lives, declining school attendance, and economic stagnation.
Let me explain.
Despite a $17 billion increase in Oregon’s 2025 state budget, ODOT’s share actually decreased by roughly $250 million.
If you’re wondering how that’s even possible, you’re not alone.
Nearly every dollar in Oregon’s budget comes pre-labeled with legal restrictions. Some can only be used for education. Some only for healthcare. Some only for veterans, or housing, or emergency response.
And transportation dollars? Those come almost exclusively from the State Highway Fund — gas taxes, weight-mile taxes, DMV fees, and a couple of small sources. That’s the ONLY pot we can legally use for paving, plowing, striping, culverts, and guardrails.
If this sounds nothing like a household budget, that’s because it isn’t.
In a normal family, you’d sit down at the table and decide which bills to pay. No one would say, “Sorry, your paycheck can only go toward the mortgage. If you want groceries, you’ll need to sell plasma.”
Sound absurd? It is–and yet, that’s exactly what public budgeting looks like.
So yes, Oregon’s total budget went up by $17 billion. But not a single penny (no, note one) of that increase could be used for road maintenance.
Meanwhile, the State Highway Fund — the one pot of money ODOT can actually use to maintain roads — fell by nearly a quarter-billion dollars, thanks to higher fuel efficiency, EV adoption, flat gas-tax revenue, and inflation.
But, ODOT still has to pay its bills, and the first bills that get paid are bondholders and contractors. Whatever’s left goes toward maintenance and operations.
Yet, for years, there hasn’t been enough “left.” And with the rising cost of asphalt, steel, concrete, equipment, diesel, and labor, ODOT hit a point where it warned the Legislature it would have to lay off around 400 front-line workers. You know, the people who plow snow, clear rocks, replace guardrails, remove roadkill, repaint lines, and repair potholes.
The people whose work we only notice when it isn’t done.
Now, about the opponents of the transportation bill: they’re not being shy. They’re not saying, “Cut one thing but not another.” They’re saying cut everything. Cut schools, cut Medicaid, cut services for kids, and for seniors. You name it, and they think it should be cut.
Why?
Because their pollsters told them that “Oregon spends too much money” is the slogan voters respond to. It’s politics first, governing never. If the roads fall apart, that’s just collateral damage on the way to the next talking point.
They call it DOGE. I call it dumb.
Some of us are trying to solve a problem. They’re trying to campaign on one.