Oregon Governor Suggests Insurance Fee to Pay for State Police

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski said he has asked the Legislature to look into adding a surcharge on vehicle insurance to raise money for State Police patrols.

“I think it is a perfect fit,” the governor said.

Kulongoski had proposed in his budget that the Oregon Lottery introduce new electronic slots games, with $65 million of the additional revenue dedicated to the state police.

Legislators, however, want to put that money toward education, so Senate Democrats have urged the governor to pursue an insurance surcharge.

But the idea would almost certainly run into resistance from House Republicans.

“Anybody that is counting on that as new revenue ought to get a doctor,” said House Revenue Chairman Tom Butler, (R-Ontario). “I don’t think it has a life.”

No specific proposal has been made. But Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, and then-Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, introduced similar legislation in 2003 that Metsger said would have cost the average motorist about $36 a year.

Hit with repeated budget cuts, the state police has fewer troopers than it had two decades ago despite Oregon’s growing population. The state police was once largely funded by the gas tax, but voters have rejected attempts to restore that funding source.

Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, the Senate’s budget chairman, has been pursuing the insurance idea for several weeks, comparing it to President Bush’s decision to raise the surcharge on airline tickets to pay for post-9/11 security improvements.

“It’s obviously not a tax increase; George Bush wouldn’t do that,” Schrader said. “So why can’t we have the opportunity to get a funding source for our security, which would be our state police.”