A Portland police-backed ballot initiative to divert money from Portland’s billion-dollar climate fund to hire more police officers could be put in front of voters later this year after all.

Backers of the initiative say Portland’s City Elections Division accepted the revised petition Thursday.

The initiative’s supporters, which include the Portland Police Association, car dealership owner Jeff Swickard and former Portland city council candidate Bob Simril, refiled the petition on Feb. 25, a day after a judge ruled the original petition lacked clear ballot language.

But they are on the clock — they must collect more than 40,000 Portland voters’ signatures by July 6 to qualify the ballot measure in time for the November election.

Jason Little, a spokesperson for the initiative’s sponsors, said they are confident they can make this happen.

“We’re pleased the city has once again advanced our initiative to hire more police and maintain climate investments without raising taxes. While our opponents will likely continue manufacturing arguments against this initiative, we are focused on letting voters have a voice in how their resources are used,” Little said in a statement. “We are confident we have the time and resources to gather the necessary signatures required to qualify for the November ballot.”

Little said they will collect signatures through a combination of paid and volunteer signature gathering efforts.

The proposal, which is the same as the original ask, would use 25% of the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s annual revenue to hire 400 officers.

The groups leading the initiative have previously said the city lacks sufficient police officers, and they want to strengthen the city’s police and public safety efforts. Using the city’s climate action fund is a way to make that happen, they said.

The Portland Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF, is a first-of-its-kind climate justice fund that imposes a 1% tax on the retail sales of large companies in the city. It was created by a 2018 ballot initiative. It funds a range of climate-related projects, including energy-efficient retrofits, renewable energy development, and job training in the construction and energy fields.

The fund is expected to generate $1.7 billion by mid-2029. But that expected revenue has already been allocated through a public process. If this policing initiative is successful, city councilors would have to decide where to remove funds to make this initiative possible.

The original petition was filed in November and was challenged by three Portland-based organizations, which said they had concerns about the details of the plan and were committed to ensuring PCEF is “preserved to fulfill the voters’ intent.”

Last month, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Eric Dahlin found the first policing initiative proposal lacked the full text necessary to meet ballot language requirements.

Both supporters and opponents to the proposal claimed victory after the judge’s ruling — the initiative’s backers claimed the issue was a “single typographical error” and said they would refile quickly, while its challengers said having clear language is important for voters in making their decisions.

This story may be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/05/portland-climate-funds-divert-police-ballot-proposal-second-push/