Bill to permit self-serve
The house bill, if passed,
would allow gas station
owners to offer self-service
gas pumps within Oregon
|an Montry
City/State Politics Reporter
Students from around the na
tion may feel a little closer to
home if Oregon Rep. Randy Miller,
R-West Linn, gets his way.
Miller introduced a bill on Feb.
21 that would end Oregon’s 50
year ban on self-service pumping
at gas stations. Currently, Oregon
is the only state besides New Jer
sey to disallow self-service.
If passed, House Bill 2749 would
lift the ban and allow gas station
owners to offer optional self-serv
ice at their businesses, and would
set provisions for public and envi
ronmental safety. Similar bills
have been frequently introduced
into the Legislature, and the last
time voters voiced their opinion
on the issues was in 1982, when
they chose to maintain the ban.
Miller said he is not “overly op
timistic” the bill will gain momen
tum in the Legislature, but he said
the idea could be more attractive
to voters, given the flailing econo
my and increasing gas prices.
“As people get more price sensi
tive, they look for ways to save
money,” he said. “There is no
doubt” self-serve would be cheaper.
In a recent survey, the Ameri
can Automobile Association con
cluded that Oregon’s statewide av
erage per-gallon gas price rose to
about $1.78 as of March 4. Two
weeks ago, at $1.74 per gallon,
Oregon had the 8th highest price
in the nation.
Miller also said he has a problem
with the state prohibiting self-serve
without a compelling purpose.
“I don’t like the state restricting
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Salina Vanarkel has been pumping gas for a year at Chevron, which may allow self
service pumping if House Bill 2749 passes.
freedom without reason, he said.
Current law cites Oregon’s “ad
verse weather” and a potential in
crease in the crime rate as pri
mary reasons why self-serve is a
bad idea. The law says slick sur
faces on the pavement resulting
from gas spills and weather make
it more dangerous for motorists to
exit their vehicles at gas stations.
Tim Nesbitt, president of Ore
gon’s AFL-CIO, said his organiza
tion opposes the proposed bill be
cause it would result in a loss of
jobs and benefits to consumers.
“Our historic position on this is
sue has been one of opposition,”
he said. “An optional self-serve
system would clearly lead to a 100
percent self-serve system without
a reduction in price.”
Steve O’Toole, executive direc
tor of the Oregon Petroleum Mar
keters Association, said increasing
labor costs due to the recent mini
mum wage increase, along with
competition from “hyper markets”
such as Safeway, are primary rea
sons why self-serve is a good idea.
“What we’re seeing is that Ore
gon has a very high labor cost for
gasoline,” he said. “The problem
we’re having now is, with the mini
mum wage increase, you really
have to look at labor costs and
what you can afford.”
Toole added that some jobs
would be lost if the bill were
passed, but said that’s a normal oc
currence when businesses have in
creasing labor costs and decreas
ing profits. He estimates that an
optional self-serve system would
cut gas prices four to nine cents.
In order to comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the
bill would require retailers to pro
vide service attendants for people
55 and older, people with medical
problems and people with disabili
ties. The service provided for them
would be equal to or less than the
amount paid for self service.
Contact the senior news reporter
atjanmontry@dailyemerald.com.
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