BEND, OR -- Oregon’s 2017 Legislative session gets underway in Salem Wednesday and Bend City Councilors are hopeful lawmakers will immediately get to work on transportation funding. Councilors are expected to sign a resolution at Wednesday's meeting, in support of passage of a state transportation-funding package.
Bend, City Manager Eric King says officials want to provide the appropriate level of service but funding is a big issue. "There’s always talk at the federal or state level that there’s going to be more investment in transportation and we keep trying. But, that’s the challenge, I think, that we face as local government. If we can’t always depend on outside funding for our infrastructure needs, we’ve got to look internally. And, those are hard decisions to make. Whether it’s a transportation bond or a fee that gets added on to a utility bill, there are options we continue to explore, and transportation is a big issue for folks." Lawmakers failed to approve a package in the 2016 session.