Oops! Kotek’s #6 backtrack (farm rule)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Kotek backtracks new farm stand rules: Kotek’s agency, Department of Land and Conservation Department, came up with a strikingly bad, harsh new rule on farms which included; big new permit requirements and new fees.  The rules limited farm stands to sell only their own products (not even their neighbors) and would make it very difficult for farms to host wedding or concerts (read more here).  The feedback had a massive blowback.  Within days of the hearing, DLCD  has announced,“At Governor Kotek’s direction, DLCD is pausing this rulemaking to reassess next steps.The comments DLCD and the Governor’s Office have received are clear. Oregonians care deeply about this complex issue and any potential unintended consequences of changing existing rules.”   This is another example of Governor Kotek floating terrible big-government ideas with no reality check.

Here are more Governor Kotek backtracks this summer:

Kotek’s epic-sized transportation trainwreck: The single biggest issue of the entire legislative session was how to pay for transportation since the Oregon Department of Transportation accidently made a billion-dollar accounting error (no joke) on top of overspending on projects by hundreds of millions. For the entire length of the 2025 session (six months), Gov. Kotek  kept silent on the issue and just let others handle it. It wasn’t until the final few days before the end of the session that panic erupted because no one could agree on anything. Kotek descended on lawmakers and began threatening vetoes if lawmakers didn’t swallow a nearly $2 billion tax hike. The gas tax failed, and all the news headlines upon the session’s ending highlighted the failure to pass a transportation budget.

Kotek backtracks on Kicker theft. On May 19, Gov. Kotek surprised everyone with the announcement that she favors taking away the people’s Kicker Income Tax Refund to pay for wildfire programs. After fierce public outcry, the very next day The Oregonian reported her backtracking with her office clarifying that the governor supports holding back the rebates only from “high income earners.” What Kotek failed to mention was that she considers Oregon’s rich as anyone who makes $90,000 or more as defined by SB 1177. (OPB 5/19/25, Oregonian 5/20/25)

Kotek backtracks on ignoring two fugitives.  Kotek took a rare stance against extraditing an Oregon fugitive suspected of stealing so much from a local Eugene newspaper that it laid off a dozen employees and closed. Kotek said she wanted to save money by not having to collect the fugitive in Ohio. That blew up, and Kotek was forced to reverse herself. At the same time, Kotek refused to extradite a mass-burglary suspect, and once again, after backlash she reversed herself. (Capital Chronicle 6/6/25, Register Guard 6/9/25)

Kotek veto overridden. Gov. Kotek tried to stop a foster care regulation bill with an out-of-nowhere veto threat. The Oregon State Senate ignored her and steamrolled over her threat by overriding her veto with a lopsided 21-6 vote turnout (only six senators supported her). That was the first governor veto takedown since 2011. (KOIN 6/25/25)

Kotek’s #1 priority defunded by 75%. Gov. Kotek’s top legislative priority for 2025 focused on housing with a bold $873 million plan. Disinterested lawmakers awarded her 25% of her goal as a token contribution.  (Oregonian 7/1/25)

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