Page 2A NORTHWEST East Oregonian Thursday, May 21, 2015 Oregon to test pay-per-mile instead of gas tax AP Photo/Don Ryan Patrick Connor’s Nissan Leaf electric car sports a custom plate as he shows how to plug it in at a charging station Tuesday at the public library in Hillsboro. so it’s discriminatory,” said Patrick Connor, a Beaverton resident who has been driving an electric car since 2007. 6WDWH RI¿FLDOV VD\ LW LV only fair for owners of green vehicles to be charged for maintaining roads, just as owners of gasoline-powered vehicles do. “We know in the future, our ability to pay for maintenance and repair... will be severely impacted if we continue to rely on the gas tax,” said Shelley Snow with the Oregon Wandering wolf appears denned up for more pups hybrids are still in the minority on American roads, even in a state as green-minded as Oregon. Of 3.3 million passenger cars registered in Oregon at the end of 2014, about 68,000 were hybrid, 3,500 electric and 620 plug-in hybrid. A decade ago, only 8,000 hybrids were registered. However, fuel-economy for gas-powered vehicles has been increasing as technology is developed that addresses public concerns about green- house gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. Oregon is the only state to actually test-drive the pay-per- mile idea. The gas tax provides just under half of the money in Oregon’s highway fund, and the majority of the money in the federal Highway Trust Fund, of which Oregon receives a portion. Oregon’s share of the fuel tax over the past two decades KDV EHHQ PRVWO\ ÀDW DQG LQ some years declined, state data show. In 2009, the Legislature raised the tax from 24 cents to 30 cents per gallon, but that’s not enough to avert shortfalls, VWDWH RI¿FLDOV VDLG EHFDXVH construction costs increase ZLWKLQÀDWLRQ By GOSIA WOZNIACKA Associated Press PORTLAND — Oregon is DERXWWRHPEDUNRQD¿UVWLQ the-nation program that aims to charge car owners not for the fuel they use, but for the miles they drive. The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gaso- line taxes are declining across the country, in part, because RI JUHDWHU IXHO HI¿FLHQF\ DQG the increasing popularity of IXHOHI¿FLHQW K\EULG DQG electric cars. Starting July 1, up to 5,000 volunteers in Oregon can sign up to drive with devices that collect data on how much they have driven and where. The volunteers will agree to pay 1.5 cents for each mile traveled on public roads within Oregon, instead of the WD[QRZDGGHGZKHQ¿OOLQJXS at the pump. Some electric and hybrid car owners, however, say the new tax would be unfair to them and would discourage purchasing of green vehicles. “This program targets hybrid and electric vehicles, BRIEFLY Department of Transportation. Other states are also looking at pay-per-mile as an alternative to dwindling fuel tax revenues. Last year, California created a committee to study alternatives to the gas tax and design a pilot program; Wash- ington state set money aside to further develop a similar program; and an Indiana bill directs the state to study alter- natives and a test project. While growing in popu- larity, electric vehicles and MEDFORD (AP) — State biologists say Oregon’s famous wandering wolf, OR-7, appears to be denned up for a second set of pups in the southern Cascades. The Medford Mail Tribune reported Wednesday WKDW25¶VVDWHOOLWHWUDFNLQJFROODUKDV¿QDOO\ died, but Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are still getting a faint signal from the radio portion of the collar. They can track that with hand-held antennas, and the signal indicates OR-7’s pack has stopped moving around. Biologist Mark Vargas says biologists won’t disturb the wolves to check for pups until the denning season ends. OR-7 became famous as his GPS collar, put on in 2011, showed him trekking across Oregon and into Northern California in search of a mate, which he IRXQG7KHLU¿UVWSXSVDUULYHGODVW\HDU Voters reject ban on GMO food in Benton County CORVALLIS (AP) — Benton County voters have overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would ban FXOWLYDWLRQRIJHQHWLFDOO\PRGL¿HGRUJDQLVPV The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that the measure was getting less than a third of the vote in XQRI¿FLDOUHWXUQV7XHVGD\QLJKW The Benton County Local Food System Ordinance had become the focus of contentious public forums, dueling yard signs and vitriolic letters to the editor. The ordinance was backed by political action committee Benton Food Freedom. A spokeswoman for the PAC admitted defeat but said the group will rewrite the bill and try again. Many opponents of the measure rallied around Monroe-area farmer Debbie Crocker, whose family grows GMO sugarbeets and several other crops. She says she is relieved the election is over but expects the controversial proposal will come up again. Controversial ODFW appointees to get full Senate vote Senators put hold on reappointments WR¿VKFRPPLVVLRQ By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau SALEM — Two contro- versial appointees to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission are headed to the VWDWH6HQDWHIRUDFRQ¿UPDWLRQ vote, after they received support from a committee on Tuesday afternoon. 7KH VSRUW ¿VKLQJ LQGXVWU\ raised an outcry after Gov. Kate Brown announced last month the appointment of Astoria resident Bruce %XFNPDVWHU WR ¿OO D VHDW on the commission that has been vacant for two years. 6SRUW ¿VKHUV FRPSODLQHG WKDW Buckmaster had opposed a SODQ WKDW DOORFDWHV PRUH ¿VK on the Lower Columbia River to anglers, and they pointed out that none of the current commissioners or Brown’s appointees work in the sport ¿VKLQJLQGXVWU\ The Senate Committee on Rules nonetheless voted unan- imously to send Buckmaster and fellow appointee Jason Atkinson of Jacksonville to the IXOO6HQDWHIRUFRQ¿UPDWLRQ In a surprise move, the committee held back the governor’s two reappoint- ments — Holly Akenson of Enterprise, and Michael Finley of Medford — because senators said they want new commissioners who will take a more active role in helping the Oregon Department of )LVK DQG :LOGOLIH WR ¿[ LWV long-term budget problems. 7KH DJHQF\ KDV D million proposed budget for 2015 through 2017 but as committee member Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, said on 7XHVGD\LWLVDOVRPLOOLRQ short of the revenue necessary to balance that budget. “In short, the agency’s upside down,” Boquist said. ³,W¶VLQVHULRXV¿QDQFLDOSURE- lems.” Atkinson said he would bring to the commission his experience working on corporate turnarounds, and he would push for the state to more effectively market ¿VKLQJ DQG KXQWLQJ RSSRUWX- nities in Oregon. Buckmaster said he would also apply his business experience to LPSURYHWKHDJHQF\¶V¿QDQFLDO health and would like the state to rank the agency’s programs in terms of their importance to its mission. Atkinson said he initially considered what it could mean to his professional reputation if he takes a position over- seeing an agency that is in ¿QDQFLDO WURXEOH 6HQ 7HG Ferrioli, R-John Day, said this was a valid concern. “It’s doing everything it can to alienate its customer base,” Ferrioli said of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life, which receives much of its revenue from hunting and ¿VKLQJ IHHV ³