OTA Dispatch Issue 2 2019

7 www.ortrucking.org Issue 2 | 2019 clear they want to spend fuel tax revenues on anything but roads and bridges. If they can’t achieve their goal in the courts, they will try at the ballot. Several measures have been drafted and introduced with the sole purpose of sending the question back to the Oregon voters for reconsideration. They hope that Oregon’s shifting demographics will result in a win at the ballot box, and they will finally get their hands on Highway Fund revenues. 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. We are facing unprecedented threats to our core principals, and it is time to make a choice: will we roll over and give up? Or will we come back swinging and protect the transportation and business principals which allow truckers to sustain their livelihood? Let’s get serious about the two biggest tools at our disposal—our Political Action Committee (TruckPAC) and our legal fund. We need a serious campaign war chest so politicians are accountable for their actions. They need to understand that when they take reckless and irresponsible positions, we will react and they will see consequences in their home district. We must also brace for impact, because we will be in court in the coming years. Legislators are emboldened by their last case before the Supreme Court, where they carved out a ‘privilege tax’ (sales tax) on motor vehicles and diverted that revenue away from the Highway Fund. Now, they will seek to do the same with cap and trade revenues. If they fail to prevent the funds from going to the Highway Fund, they are likely to take a roundabout approach and simply direct ODOT to spend the funds on non- eligible purposes. Where will we be when they spend fuel taxes on affordable housing or electric-powered transit buses for Portland? Will we be prepared to take on those fights and defend the Highway Trust Fund? These threats simply cannot be ignored. Now is the time to get serious. Nothing is sacred in Salem, and it is up to us to protect what matters most.