OR license money, meant for endangered salmon

Oregon license plate money, meant for endangered salmon, instead funds Salem bureaucrat's salary

Oregon introduced the salmon license plate in the late 1990s as a way for drivers to help fish recovery efforts. One state agency, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, is now using the money for staff salaries instead. (Oregon DMV)

Spend a little more to put an Oregon salmon license plate on your vehicle, and your money is supposed to directly benefit the iconic fish.

One state agency promised to use the money exclusively to undo roadblocks impairing salmon streams across Oregon. Culverts, the drains that carry creeks beneath roads, frequently stop salmon migration to rearing habitat.

But that promise is being broken, The Oregonian found.

Since 2013, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board hasn't spent a cent of salmon plate money on fixing road impacts.

Instead, drivers have paid the salary and office expenses of OWEB's small grants administrator in Salem. Drivers are also set to pay for a $150,000 website improvement to make it possible to apply online for grants from OWEB, another project that won't retrofit a single culvert.

Across Oregon, nearly 32,000 people have salmon plates on their cars and trucks. They pay an extra $30 every two years to buy or renew them. When the plate was created in .... http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/12/oregon_license_plate_money_mea.html

Reminds me of "if you like your doctor, if you like your healthcare you can keep them.... Period." Lying bureaucrats and politicians.

That is absolutely shocking and so unlike what occurs in other states - including WA. (Please note, that sentence is dripping sarcasm!!)

Do not forget that on this side of the river the voters passed an initiative (1965??) that required that the road tax portion of the gas tax paid by boaters be put into a fund available for (1) refunds and (2) that un-refunded monies be used for recreational boating facility enhancements (ROC). Subsequent legislation set the amount at 1% of the overall gas tax.

At least the last two budgetary sessions of the legislature have raided that fund of millions of dollars. Not borrowed; taken to fund higher needs as determined by our legislators! My State representative told me that they "Just had to do it." Those were dollars inappropriately being charged boaters in the first place and which by initiative should have only been used for direct support of boating infrastructure. Oh, and she failed in her bid for a state Senate seat. Too bad (not).

Different than in OR? Not really.

Just wondering when they will have a conscience and repay that money?

Allocating specific amounts of money to specific projects has always been a fools game. You can buy all the special license plates you want, and ALL that money WILL go into whatever pot of money you want. But that does not, and cannot, prohibit the State legislature from decreasing the funding from that same pot of money, by the same amount. Sorta like "put it in at the top, and then take it out at the bottom". So the amount of money for salmon restoration (or whatever) stays the same. It has been like this since State legislatures were created. And it won't change. That is because we, as taxpayers, can put all the money into State government as we want. But only the State legislature can decide how that money is spent.

Only a fool would believe that if they decide to deposit money into the State's coffers (via special license plates or whatever), they are entitled to directly decide how that money is spent. That cannot happen.

The government is not lying to anyone on this. As taxpayers, (or buyers of special license plates) it's our responsibility to understand how government operates.

I'll try to not be offended by the "fools" comment. Maybe my standards/expectations are higher than yours but a fool I am not.

As for the roads portion of the gas tax it is improperly charged to boaters in the first place but there is no easy way of differentiating gas to be used on the road from non-road gas (like they have done with red dye put into off-road diesel fuel).

That situation was addressed by INITIATIVE with the 1% to go into the dedicated account. This is not a general tax revenue to be raided from that DEDICATED ACCOUNT to be utilized by the Legislature to meet its other needs/desires.

And, yes, the Legislature can change a successful Initiative after three years but to do so repeatedly just to raid the account is, well, more than a bit dishonest.

It would be interesting if any subsequent change by the Legislature to a successful initiative be done so via a separate, stand alone piece of legislation instead of just buried in the fine print of an omnibus funding bill.

This pisses me off since I pay an extra 30 bucks every 2 years for those plates