Why can't you pump your own gas in Oregon? (Portland: buying, prices)

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by redguard57

Right. Our gas is 20 cents cheaper than Washington and 50 cents cheaper than California.

Hyperbole much?

Gasbuddy.com says the lowest price in my Silicon Valley town is $2.49 today.

The lowest price in Clackamas is $2.29 today.

As often as I'm forced to visit the "Go Home" state, the disparity has never been 50 cents.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

I believe they cash in on tourists with the Oregon state lodging tax, in addition to the gas tax, and some other taxes too.

Plus, Oregon gets millions in Business from Washingtonians and Californians who cross the border into Oregon to shop. That is a huge boost to the economomy and the store owner then pays income tax on the profits from all that business. It's not an insubstantial figure.

Plus there is an enormous tax on legal marijuana and all the pot tourists pay that tax.

It's not like tourist don't pay any taxes while they are in Oregon.

[pnwguy2]

Good points, but the lack of sales tax at restaurants, any retail shopping, etc. is lost revenue IMO. However, Oregonians can shop in WA or CA tax free by just providing an Oregon I.D. So it can work both ways.

[McFrostyJ]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

If you have a debit or credit card you can avoid most of what you describe. But thanks for your enhanced description of the "cold, dark, wet" weather, which last time I checked also exists in The Beaver State, plus the imperialist values you place on States.

Yes, I know. I'm glad that I don't have to get out of my car here in Oregon on those days and at the same time pay less for gas, spend less time at the gas station and not kill about 10,000 jobs.

I'm curious Pnwguy2. You live in Washington State. So, why do you care what we do here in Oregon? First gas and now sales tax.

[PNW-type-gal]

Jeez, people, ELEVEN pages to answer the question: "Why can't you pump your own gas in Oregon?"

We all know the answer: "Because."

From the absolute best feature in the Medford Mail Tribune, the "Since You Asked" column:

A New York Times story once suggested that Oregonians' revulsion at the thought of self-service gas is instilled at birth, quoting a Portland executive as saying, "The joke is, 'When babies are born in Oregon, the doctor slaps their bottom (and says), No self-serve and no sales tax.' "

[OldDocKat]

Originally Posted by IowaRose

My husband and I were talking about the last time we had someone pump gas for us. I grew up in Michigan and I think it was early to mid 80's when gas stations went to self service. I remember when I was a kid, my Mom went to the same full service station in town. They would pump your gas, check your oil and wiper blades and wash your windshield. Ah, those were the days. I learned to pump gas before I could drive and always filled the tank for my Mom when we went anywhere, between me and my Dad, she never had to learn how to pump gas. My husband grew up in Iowa and he thinks gas stations went self service here at about the same time. I don't mind having someone pump my gas, but I think it freaked my husband out a little.

Ha! I remember when they would do all that, and gas was 27 cents a gallon!

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by McFrostyJ

Yes, I know. I'm glad that I don't have to get out of my car here in Oregon on those days and at the same time pay less for gas, spend less time at the gas station and not kill about 10,000 jobs.

I'm curious Pnwguy2. You live in Washington State. So, why do you care what we do here in Oregon? First gas and now sales tax.

Why do I care? Because I still do a lot of business in Oregon. And I lived in Oregon from '98 to '05. I'm not sure why you believe those who may live outside of OR have no connections with said state. Again, you seem to be quite imperialistic about The Beaver State. Doesn't matter here in 2016.

[McFrostyJ]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Why do I care? Because I still do a lot of business in Oregon. And I lived in Oregon from '98 to '05. I'm not sure why you believe those who may live outside of OR have no connections with said state. Again, you seem to be quite imperialistic about The Beaver State. Doesn't matter here in 2016.

It's my opinion that people who live in the state should vote and choose to run things the way they see fit.

I do business in Washington. I have family in Washington. I go to Washington many times each year and have done so for a very long time. I lived in Lake Forrest Park, Washington in 1993 and 94.
However, I do not live there now and I would not and will not tell the people of Washington how to run their state.

But oh well, that's just a difference between you and me.
I'm sure there would be other things that we would agree on.
So, It's all good!

[pnwguy2]

Yeah, it is all good. Minor arguments among PNW'ers are just that...minor. Just unless it comes to Pac-12 games in the fall...lol. Peace. Oh, and Lake Forest Park is one of my favorite neighborhoods. So yeah, we do agree on some things!

[redguard57]

It's not necessarily faster to pump your own since one big difference with OR is that people don't park at the pumps to go inside a convenience store, taking up a pump for no reason.

The last time repealing the gas law was on the ballot was 1982. It's probably about time to put it on again.

My sense it that most Oregonians would vote to keep it, but it would be close. The Oregonian has done a few polls on it & the last one in 2014 found that 46% support and 44% oppose the gas law with a very big age gap with older supporting it and younger opposing it. That leaves a lot of undecided. Much would probably depend on the economic context the vote took place in. In a recession the jobs argument would be stronger, in a good economy, weaker.

Personally, I really don't care. It doesn't bother me, it's not costing me any money relative to neighboring states. It keeps 10,000 people employed. Because it's working fine and not hurting anyone as far as I can tell, I would vote to keep it unless there was a really compelling reason to repeal. I don't trust "the market" to just absorb those jobs like nothing happened. Oregon is bad at that - we don't have a lot of large employers just waiting to hire people. The job market is traditionally difficult here. Personally I know a couple people who had to fall back on gas attendant jobs during the recession and THEY were really glad those jobs existed.

I would be okay if it went away. I pumped my own gas most of my life before moving here. Whatever. That some out-of-staters are "annoyed" that they can't pump their own gas is reason enough for me to support it, though.

Any of you can start a petition to put it on the ballot. You need 88,000 signatures.