Ore. Weight-Distance Fight Continues

October 11, 1999 8:33 AM, EDT

As hard as it was to kill the Oregon weight-distance tax, truckers and their allies face an equally tough task to keep it dead, now that it is all but certain that the American Automobile Association will get enough petition signatures to force a public vote on the tax repeal and the transportation spending package that goes along with it.

AAA’s Oregon-Idaho chapter needs the signatures of 44,522 registered voters by Oct. 22 to place the repeal issue on the presidential primary ballot in May 2000. As of Oct. 5, the group had more than 56,000 signed on.

The signatures must be certified by the state before the ballot measure can be approved. AAA spokeswoman Anne O’Ryan cautioned that all the collected names may not be registered voters. “We’re still stressing how important it is for people to continue signing and we want to give all Oregonians a chance to participate,” O’Ryan said.

A separate group, Oregon Taxpayers United, has gathered 6,000 additional signatures.

For the full story, see the Oct. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.