Gov. Tina Kotek may feel ignored.

It was just in December when her office released a statement saying she wanted a three-year moratorium on taxes and fees through 2026.

“Elected officials should agree to a three-year pause, through 2026, on new taxes and fees,” the statement said, in addition to a lot of other things.

And what’s coming up in the Legislature this week? A new property tax that would be referred to the ballot.

She didn’t propose it. It came from one of her Democratic colleagues in the House.

“The Legislative Assembly shall impose by law a state property tax on all real property and all personal property, tangible and intangible, located, used or held for use within the state…,” House Joint Resolution 201 reads.

The money raised would go to wildfire protection/public safety. It would be 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value of property.

Wildfire is an undeniable threat. Much more prevention work is needed, $136 million worth, says the bill’s sponsor Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth. And the Legislature has been trying to fund it through one-time contributions to the general fund.

“Years of benign neglect have kept our statewide wildfire resilience in a negative posture,” Evans writes in a statement in support of the resolution. “We are all complicit in the politics that got us ‘here.’ The impacts of the contagion, economic uncertainties, and the follow-on crisis in housing and behavioral health care have sucked up most of the air in the governance space.”

Is Evans wrong? Was Kotek wrong to ask for a moratorium? Would it feel better if the new tax weren’t implemented until 2027?

You should tell your legislators what you think about the proposal from Evans. You can find more about it here: tinyurl.com/ORHJR201.