State Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, will lead a legislative effort to drive spending accountability at the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
As lawmakers search for money to prop up the beleaguered Oregon Department of Transportation, two of the agency’s sharpest Republican critics have a potentially influential new role.
Last week, the Legislature’s top Democrats put state Sen. Bruce Starr, a Dundee Republican, in charge of finding ways to force more accountability out of ODOT at a time when plenty of lawmakers suspect the agency has lost its way.
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Starr immediately tapped state Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis — a trucking company owner and the top House Republican on transportation matters — to assist him “shoulder to shoulder” in that work. The duo are tasked with a powerful, but informal, assignment: figuring out whether ODOT really needs what it says.
The Democratic olive branch is a relative rarity in Salem, where the majority party typically prefers to handle high-profile jobs itself. It also comes with a risk: Giving Republicans a larger soapbox from which to question tax hikes Democrats say are highly likely.
“Our first instinct isn’t to raise taxes,” Starr said in an interview last week. “Our first instinct is, ‘Hey, are we getting the most bang for the existing dollar?’”
“If it weren’t for Republicans … asking questions,” added Boshart Davis, R-Albany, “I can tell you right now, the only conversation that would be had is, ‘How do we take more money from Oregonians?’”
Starr was still deciding last week whom he’d select to help him dig through ODOT’s budget, and he didn’t have a hard deadline for when recommendations would be ready. But he suggested the effort would have input from both Democrats and Republicans, and include experts from outside the Legislature.
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“Maybe they’ve run large agencies before, maybe they’ve delivered mega projects in the past and understand how that should work,” Starr said. “Because right now, from where I’m sitting, the Oregon Department of Transportation can’t deliver big projects.”
ODOT has offered a bleak, yet sometimes shifting, picture of its financial straits.
Representative Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, pictured on Feb. 5, 2024, Boshart Davis is on the Joint Transportation Committee in Salem.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
In presentations last year, the agency told lawmakers it needed an extra $1.8 billion a year, warning of mass layoffs and an inability to pave state-owned roads. Today, the agency says it can avoid the worst outcomes with a mere extra $875 million a year.
Meanwhile, ODOT is billions of dollars short for projects that were supposed to be paid for by a $5.3 billion funding bill in 2017. And recent reporting by the Salem Statesman-Journal detailed sloppy accounting at the agency, ballooning project costs and an inability to easily track where money was flowing.
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Democrats this year have said that increases to the state’s 40-cent-per-gallon gas tax and vehicle registration fees could be in order to help the agency pay its bills and finish promised projects — a sentiment Republicans have panned.
Both parties agree the Legislature has a role in forcing ODOT to be transparent and responsible with any money it gets.
A press release from Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, last week said Starr’s team will “review current ODOT accountability mechanisms and their effectiveness, while also studying where additional mechanisms should be added.”
Starr and Boshart Davis, both vice-chairs of the legislative Transportation Committee, seemed to have a more expansive notion of their work. Neither would rule out recommending that ODOT scrap its role in registering Oregon voters, or that the agency spend less money on public transit or amenities for bicycles — both targets of GOP scorn this year.
“In a situation where there’s, according to ODOT, not enough revenue to meet all the needs, maybe they’re doing some things that aren’t core to their mission,” Starr said. “That’s part of this effort.”
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Starr has delved deep into ODOT before. In 2009, while representing Hillsboro in the state House, he helped navigate a major funding package for roads.
“Historically, transportation is one of those issues where folks put their shoulder to the wheel and try to find ways to work together,” he said.
Democrats say they’re showing that same spirit by giving Starr this authority. But Salem has changed in the last 16 years, and lawmakers often complain the House and Senate are more politically polarized than ever.
That was evident by Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham’s reaction last week to Starr’s new role.
“Turning to Republicans for help fixing this problem is the ultimate admission that Democrats lack the vision, creativity, and resolve to reform an agency riddled with mismanagement and misplaced priorities,” Bonham, R-The Dalles, said in a statement. “But if Democrats are only looking for cover to justify another tax hike, we won’t be their scapegoat”
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Asked last week whether he agreed with that sentiment, Starr took a softer stance on Democrats, whose supermajorities in each chamber grant them power to pass new taxes on their own.
“Theoretically, they could do this on their own and just keep throwing more money into the agency,” he said, “I don’t think they want to do that.”
The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a $1.55 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
But they asked university leadership to return with an amended proposal by Dec. 15, when more details about future budget cuts will be known.
FILE — The Board of Trustees recently approved next year’s budget for the University of Oregon. The vote comes several weeks after the school’s president announced that he wants the university to reduce its annual budget as revenues and out-of-state enrollment decline.
Brian Bull / KLCC
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The vote comes several weeks after University of Oregon President Karl Scholz announced that he wants the school to reduce its annual budget by around $65 million.
At a trustees meeting Monday, Scholz said the estimated budget shortfall for next year is just around $23 million. But he said out-of-state enrollment is below historical norms for the second year in a row, and it’s unlikely to bounce back.
“One year can be an aberration. Two years is a pattern,” said Scholz. “And I believe we have to treat it as a new reality.”
Scholz said in May that discussions about the budget would happen over a six-month period. He said no final decisions about cuts would be made over this summer.
On Monday, UO Senate President Dyana Mason told trustees that the Senate had approved a new process to allow for community feedback in the cost-cutting process.
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Mason said the provost will work with the deans on budget proposals, finding “clear rationale” for why programs are considered for elimination.
The provost would then bring those proposals to the Senate Committee for Academic Modifications—which includes staff, faculty and students—for feedback.
Once the plans are nearly finalized, the Senate could then hold a period for public comment.
Mason told trustees that a six-month timeline is better than the three months that frustrated some staff last year, but she recommended taking however much time is necessary.
“The worst situation would be rushing forward to make decisions without appropriate evidence, data, feedback from the people that are most in the know about the impact on our students,” said Mason.
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UO’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda said that every week that university delays the decisions could cost them millions of dollars.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom.This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
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Oregon’s juvenile justice system has been reshaped in recent years by a sweeping reform law that changed how the state handles minors accused of serious crimes.
Senate Bill 1008, which took effect in 2020, ended automatic transfers of juveniles into adult court and eliminated life without parole sentences for juveniles. The law also created “second-look” hearings and established parole eligibility after 15 years for certain offenders who committed crimes before turning 18.
To help explain the law and its impact, KVAL’s Frannie Pedersen put together a timeline video tracing the history of Senate Bill 1008, from the passage of Measure 11 in 1994 to the reforms that later reshaped Oregon’s juvenile justice system.
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The video breaks down how the law changed, why lawmakers pushed for reform, and how SB 1008 continues to influence Oregon’s justice system today. Viewers can watch the full video for a detailed timeline and explanation of the changes.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A New Jersey man was sentenced to federal prison last Friday for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon.
Mark T. Eager, 34, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
“This defendant showed a blatant disregard for human life by trafficking fentanyl across the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Bradford. “My office will continue to pursue those who profit from poisoning our communities, and we will use every available resource and partnership to combat fentanyl trafficking and keep Oregonians safe.”
“This investigation brought together law enforcement agencies from across the nation,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Homeland Security Investigations special agents from Portland, Newark, and Houston contributed to the case, along with the Portland Police Bureau and HIDTA HIT officers, who were instrumental in identifying Eager. His 11-year sentence sends a clear message: no matter where you are in the country or the world, if you attempt to sell narcotics online to Americans, we will find you.”
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“Fentanyl trafficking poses a grave threat to communities across the United States, and Homeland Security Investigations is committed to working with our partners to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks responsible,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Lucia Cabral-DeArmas. “This case demonstrates the power of interagency collaboration under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, leveraging resources from across the country to hold traffickers accountable and protect the American people. We will continue to pursue those who endanger lives through the distribution of dangerous synthetic opioids, and we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard our communities from the violence and instability caused by transnational criminal organizations.”
“By following this offender’s digital trail, Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners nationwide executed federal search warrants, dismantled an active dark web fentanyl packaging operation and recovered deadly amounts of fentanyl, thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, and a trove of electronic devices and packaging materials,” said HSI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas. “This case is a powerful example of how coordinated, data-driven investigations can disrupt dangerous networks and help protect our communities from lethal synthetic opioids.”
According to court documents, from November 2023 through June 2024, Eager and his co-conspirator sold fentanyl on the Dark Net and Telegram. Eager operated as the vendor WRSEH10 and marketed the fentanyl as “China White Synthetic Heroin.”
In June 2024, HSI agents executed search warrants on two residences associated with Eager in Kearny, New Jersey, and seized over 360 grams of powdered fentanyl, counterfeit M30 pills, drug ledgers, cellular phones, two computers, and drug packaging consistent with three deliveries that were sent to Oregon.
On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a four-count indictment charging Eager with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl.
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On February 4, 2026, Eager pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
HSI Portland and HSI Houston investigated this case with assistance from HSI Newark, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Interdiction Task Force (HIT). Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey assisted the U.S. Attorney’s in Oregon in obtaining the search warrants that were executed in Kearny.
