House Bill 2120 reads like a plan to make Oregon taxpayers mad and then run right over them and do what the governor wants.

You've read about the parts of the bill that would raise the gas tax and other motor vehicles fees. The rest of the bill is interesting too.

The bill would:

• Authorize pilot programs to impose "congestion pricing in one or more communities." This is the idea of charging tolls or taxes based on whether you drive during rush hour or at 4 a.m.

• Authorize other pilot programs to test alternatives to the gas tax. Presumably that would include vehicle mileage taxes calculated by the GPS-based system the state has already tested.

• Tell the Department of Transportation to figure out how much federal highway money it could spend on non-highway projects.

• Create the offense of driving a "medium speed electric vehicle on a highway," with a maximum fine of $360.

• Allow mass transit and transportation districts to borrow money without first getting voter approval.

• Permit counties to establish and collect local vehicle registration fees without submitting them to an election.

• Authorize the Department of Transportation to charge a "registration plate manufacturing fee."

By themselves some of these may be justified by changes coming down the road, but one wonders why the governor, who asked that HB 2120 be introduced, wants to do all this at the same time.

Yes, we will need new kinds of transportation systems. But won't some of these come about on their own as they are needed and as Oregonians adjust their lives to new realities?

State Rep. Dennis Richardson, a Republican from Central Point, says in his latest newsletter that the world oil supply may run out in 35 years. If so, fuel will cost $10 or $20 a gallon well before then, and we'll be forced to adopt new forms of transportation.

Being forced to adjust our ways of life by the reality of the changing world around us is one thing. Being forced by the government issuing edicts - that's something else. (hh)