PENDLETON — State Sen. Bill Hansell said he is leaning toward voting for a bill to allow self-serve fueling.

The Oregon House voted 47 to 10 on March 20 for House Bill 2426, which would allow for motorists to fill their vehicle’s tanks themselves.

All seven Democrats and three Republicans who voted against HB 2426 represent Western Oregon districts. Eighteen Republicans voted in favor, including Bobby Levy of Echo, and 29 Democrats. Three Republicans did not vote, including Greg Smith of Heppner.

HB 2426 now moves to the Senate.

“The fact that it came out of the House is a good sign of support,” Hansell, R-Athena, said. “The House is more urban-oriented.”

Four Democrats are the chief sponsors of the bill: House Majority Leader Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany and Sens. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, and Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro. Hansell said he may support the measure.

“During sessions, I live here in wet weather,” he said. “It’s nice not to have to get out. But I can see arguments on both sides. Rural Oregon is incrementally moving toward (self-service), with Pilot, after-hours and Cardlock. There’s the employment thing, but it’s cheaper for consumers.”

Hansell said he and his grandson were lucky to find an attendant late at night at the gas station in Jordan Valley, returning from California via Nevada.

“My grandson was driving,” he said. “I must have fallen asleep, so we didn’t top off in Winnemucca.”

An advanced placement class at Pendleton High School sent Hansell’s office the results of its vote on HB 2426.

“Of the 51 students voting, 38 favored the self-service bill, to only 13 against,” he said. “We sent them all thank-you emails.”

Rocky Brooks of Prosser, Washington, said why he favors self-service gas pumping March 27 while filling up his large motor home at Arrowhead Travel Plaza, Mission.

“It just adds cost for something I can do myself,” Brooks said. “We live close enough to the border we buy gas in Oregon pretty often. Look at this big puppy. Every penny counts. It also cuts wait time.”

HB 2426 would allow for gas stations in 16 of Oregon’s more heavily populated counties to designate up to half of their pumps for self-service. One attendant would have to be present at these stations to pump gas for customers, according to a story in Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The bill also calls for customers in 21 rural counties, including Umatilla and Morrow counties, to be able to pump their gas at any time regardless of whether an attendant is on site.

Oregon and New Jersey are the only states still banning self-serve gasoline. Oregon’s prohibition dates from 1951, and voters upheld it in a 1982 statewide election. The 1951 ban on self-pumping fuel never extended to diesel.

Legislators eased the ban in recent years, besides Cardlock stations not accessible to the general public. In 2015, the Legislature allowed drivers to pump their own gas at unattended stations between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in counties with less than 40,000 residents, all east of the Cascades. In 2017, they dropped the time restriction and permitted self-fueling, again in counties east of the Cascades, starting in 2018.

Democrats and Republicans sponsored a similar bill in the 2022 short session, but it failed to reach a vote of the full House.