OTA Dispatch Issue 4 2018

4 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch FROM THE PRESIDENT Jana Jarvis OTA President/CEO T he 2018 election is behind us as I write this and the results at the national level and in the state of Oregon sent mixed messages once again! While expectations at the national level were that anti-Trump efforts would drive a turnover in both the House and the Senate, only the House changed hands and by far fewer seats than predicted. Oregon, on the other hand, picked up more Democrat seats than even the D’s expected! In the House, they picked up three seats surprising even them in one district and giving them a super supermajority with 38 seats. Democrats in the Senate picked up their needed seat in southern Oregon which gives them an 18-member supermajority as well—meaning that no Republican votes are needed to raise your taxes! And that’s what’s coming. And then there was the Governor’s race. While analysts kept stating that it was too close to call and the Oregon governor’s race gained national attention—Governor Brown won handily by six points, proving that polling strategies need to change since no one seems to know what voters are really thinking. On the plus side, the trucking industry gained a voice in the process with the election of Shelly Boshart Davis winning the seat in House District 15. Shelly is featured in this edition of the Dispatch and I’m sure you will be grateful to have her voice in the legislature. She has deep experience in the political process, having been a spokesperson for agricultural issues as well as transportation issues in the past. We are fortunate to have her as a representative of our industry and look forward to supporting her in the coming months. We want to build on these types of connections, and we have a strategy to do just that. OTA is developing a grassroots network of trucking voices by connecting a key member in each legislative district to their elected representative or senator. We are currently seeking those OTA members who either know, or are willing to get to know, their elected officials. These “Key Contacts” should be willing to invest the time to build a solid working relationship with their representative or senator and be the primary conduit between them and OTA. This isn’t an empty request—we will be providing training for this role in early January to help those who are willing to serve in this capacity but may be a little uncertain about what the job entails. All of this effort will focus initially on getting members to our Trucking Day at the Capitol on January 29, 2019. We did our first Trucking Day at the Capitol in 2017 and I was delighted that so many of you took the time to come and spend the day helping us spread the trucking message. In fact, 105 individuals took the time—and several carriers made the commitment to bring members of their staff to help our efforts. In 2019 the tasks before us will be even bigger and we need an even larger presence. In fact, as you read this, we need over 200 of you to mark the day on your calendar and make the decision and commitment to attend! The event will begin the morning of the 29th at the Salem Convention Center, where legislative leadership will share their priorities with you. OTA delegates will then spend the afternoon meeting with legislators in small groups to share our priorities with them and explain why the trucking industry must be a key consideration as they address specific issues during the 2019 session. The legislature will have been in session for only one week when we convene on January 29, so this is our chance to create one of the first impressions for the upcoming legislative session. Let’s make it a great first—and truly lasting—impression! I guess I need to explain to you why it is so important for you to be a part of our efforts. Legislators expect to pass Cap and Invest legislation in the first thirty days of the session. This effort will hit us directly since much of the carbon reduction is expected to come from the transportation sector. Then, they will move on to find a new source of funding for education and the rumor is that they will look to pass a Gross Receipts Tax for education. All the while they are looking to institutionalize Pay Equity programs and will likely look to create a 12 or 18-week Paid Family Leave program with no limit on the size of the companies responsible to comply and fund this. Business is in their sites—we need to be strategic about how to respond! 2019 brings lots of new challenges and opportunities to both our industry and our association. You will see a renewed emphasis on Happy Holidays and the all the best to you in 2019!