2026 Legislature flirts with 2 tax hikes (in 6 weeks)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The 2026 Special Short Legislative Session begins in just 6 weeks in February.

Here are the two taxes under consideration:

#1. 83%+ hotel tax increase.   The plan is to raise the state lodging tax by 83% to pay for wildlife programs.  This tax would hit both hotels and AirBnB, and it would hit them while Oregon tourism remains down compared to the rest of the nation.   The tax would fund wildlife programs and highway underpasses for traveling wildlife.

#2. Disconnect Oregon small businesses from some of the Trump tax cuts: A coalition of liberal groups wrote in the Sunday Oregonian Editorial calling to disconnect certain business tax breaks from the Trump tax cuts contained int he Big Beautiful Bill.  They aim to steal away hundreds of millions in these reversal of tax cuts to small businesses.

Stay tuned on this tax fight, because the 2026 Special Short Legislative Session is just over one month long, giving politicians more speed to ramrod taxes through with less public involvement and less public notice.