When the Oregon legislature passed House Bill 2800 this spring, authorizing the state to issue $450 million in bonds to fund a portion of the Columbia River Crossing, it included a list of conditions that had to be met by September 30 for the state to be able to issue the bonds. Two of the conditions weren't met (approval by State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, and the State of Washington chipping in $450 million), and so the state's authority to issue the bonds expired Monday night.
That doesn't mean the entire bill has expired, though. Section 21 of the bill (it's on page 10 of the engrossed version) requires the Oregon Department of Transportation to submit a report to the legislature every quarter on the progress of the bridge project, continuing through the end of 2023 -- ten years from now -- whether or not the replacement bridge is ever built. It's a wonderful legislature that can command a state agency to report every three months on the progress it's making on a bridge it isn't building. I'm curious if ODOT will outsource the progress reports to one of the legions of consultants who have dined well already.