OTA Dispatch Issue 2 2019

Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch Waylon Buchan OTA Director of Government Affairs LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 6 S alem is changing. If you were to ask anyone working in the Capitol how this legislative session compares to the past decades, they will tell you that 2019 is an entirely different animal than what we’ve seen before. Logic and reason rarely enter discussions. One-party rule by supermajority is the new norm. Core policies and principals which have served as the bedrock of legislative discussions for years? Out the window. Truly, nothing in Salem is sacred. This culture shift is evident when you look at the Democrat legislative agenda. We have been inundated with bills which raise taxes, increase costs, create new business regulations, and alter the rules of the workforce. But when you view these proposals against the backdrop of the Oregon business climate, none of them make sense. They are all solutions in search of a problem. Cap and trade, for example, would drastically increase the cost of motor fuels without maintaining or enhancing transportation infrastructure. The diesel engine regulation bill, as introduced, would have outlawed equipment statewide while providing paltry incentives to private fleets. Independent contractor law changes would upend the entire trucking labor market by redefining how companies classify employees—without a clear reason why they need to make this change. Speaking of employees, Democrats also want to significantly expand paid family and medical leave laws, and they expect employers to foot the bill. They would seek to change the goalposts on workers’ compensation laws, while making workplaces less safe by allowing the ‘lawful’ use of recreational marijuana and negating the ability to test for impairment at work. Democrats pushed through a new gross receipts tax to raise additional revenue for schools, only to learn days later through the state revenue forecast that Oregon is swimming in billions of dollars in extra revenue. Did they reconsider their new tax package? Absolutely not. Are they going to send extra revenue back to the taxpayers in accordance with Oregon’s unique ‘kicker’ law? Of course not! They want to raid that fund as well. Surely with all this extra revenue, Democrats would back off from their idea of sweeping excess funds within the SAIF account. Think again! They want that money, too. This is the session of unmitigated greed, and nothing is off limits. Are you sick to your stomach yet? Because, wait— there’s more. In recent weeks, lawmakers have dropped all pretense and made it clear that they intend to bust the Highway Trust Fund protected by Article 9 of the Oregon Constitution. Historically, Oregon voters have upheld the sanctity of the Highway Trust Fund by huge margins. They have spoken, and they want revenues raised by automobiles and motor fuels to be spent on Oregon’s roads and bridges. Legislators don’t seem to care. Cap and trade legislation contains a provision which would expedite review of the program directly to the Oregon Supreme Court. Initially, proponents of the bill claimed they wanted to get “clarity” about their new program. Now, they have dropped that charade and made Watch your email for Calls to Action from our advocacy platform, VoterVoice. To join our Truck PAC, go to www.ortrucking. org/truck-pac Legislative Recap It is time for the Oregon trucking industry to become 20 feet tall in Salem. It is time to get so loud and so active that we cannot be ignored!