OTA Dispatch Issue 3

4 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch FROM THE PRESIDENT Jana Jarvis OTA President/CEO O regon is no longer governed by a part- time legislature. They may schedule session on a part-time basis and pay legislators a part-time salary but the legislative process itself is now a very full-time occupation! Work groups abound on policy issues brought up in the short session earlier this year—autonomous vehicles, lane splitting, tolling, Cap and Trade, Paid Family Leave—among a host of others. And all of these ideas could have a significant impact on the cost of doing business, especially the cost of running a trucking company in Oregon. It’s August as I write this column and I know already that the 2019 legislative session is likely to be the most difficult I have ever experienced. Now, more than ever, we need your help. You only need to look at the political landscape nationally to understand what is happening in Oregon. Democrats are poised to take control of the House and Nancy Pelosi is intent on regaining her seat as Speaker. Historically, the party in control of the White House loses congressional seats during the mid-term election and to listen to the debate in races across the nation it is easy to expect history to repeat itself. Then again, this President has already defied the odds so predicting the national election is likely a fool’s errand. However, Oregon ran counter to the national trend during the 2016 election cycle and it is likely to maintain that status during these mid-year elections. I have never seen as many city councilor, mayor and county commissioner races where candidates are running against Trump! And the legislative races are no exception. While there will undoubtedly be surprises, most in “the business” expect the D’s to pick up seats in the Oregon State House and possibly the Senate giving the Democrats a super-majority going into the 2019 legislative session. What does that mean? Taxes. In the form of pricing carbon to ultimately change our energy sources to more environmentally sustainable choices as proposed by the environmental community. Taxes. In the form of increased tax rates and the reduction of tax credits to fund and support education. Taxes require a super-majority of legislators to support them and it is likely that these could be passed in a strictly partisan fashion. There will be numerous ideas proposed (such as more labor law changes) that the trucking industry doesn’t support and many of these ideas will only need a majority of legislators to support them. If this ends up being the political landscape—what can you do to protect your business? You can—and should—decide to make the time to get involved with OTA in the various political activities they are undertaking. We have already begun the planning for our second Trucking Day at the Capitol event scheduled January 29, 2019. This is our one day to showcase the importance of trucking to Oregon’s economy and we need you to put this on your calendar and join us! The bigger the crowd, the bigger the impression we make. Attendees are briefed on the various issues and then have the opportunity to meet with legislators in small groups to help them understand what it takes to build a successful trucking company in Oregon. We had over 100 members participate in our first Trucking Day at the Capitol in 2017—but we will need twice that many next year. I encourage you to be proactive by adding your voice to the process! To that end, I also want to make you aware of OTA’s grassroots activities, led by OTA in Action Committee chair, Mark Gibson with Siskiyou Transportation. Leading up to the 2019 session we are building a network of key contacts for legislators to better help them understand—and care about—the trucking industry. We are looking for volunteers from around the state and will assign them to House or Senate members in key committees that we interact with. If you have an established relationship with a legislator, or the willingness to build one, please reach out and let us know. We will be providing training for this new role as an OTA Key Contact as well as regular communications leading up to our Trucking Day at the Capitol and during the legislative session. This is an important role for OTA—just call or send us an email and let us know your willingness to be an ambassador for the trucking industry! Focusing on federal affairs, OTA is returning to Washington, DC this October 2–4. The Oregon delegation for this year’s Call on Washington will have the chance to directly address these national- level issues, such as the F4A (see the article in Issue 2 of the 2018 Dispatch ). Many of the regulations you are faced with on a daily basis are decisions being made on the other side of the country so don’t miss We are an association that succeeds because of our members. Get involved!