PLSO The Oregon Surveyor January February 2021

8 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 1 Lobbyist Update Darrell Fuller LOBBYIST UPDATE With Darrell Fuller I am monitoring bills which may impact surveyors, or are of interest to surveyors, including bills related to development, COVID rules, workersʼ compensation, independent contractor regulations, and other issues impacting businesses. A Report from the Virtual Capitol During the Real Legislative Session T hings move quickly these days in the world of politics and policy. So, I hope not too much of this report is already “old news.” I’ll offer a brief run - down of last year’s election and share a little about the ongoing legislative session. Republicans Do Well In 2020 Elections (The Story You May Not Have Heard) PLSO is a nonpartisan voice of survey - ors across the state. This update merely provides information on what happened during last year’s elections. Understandably, most of the attention on the election focused on the presidential brawl. But that tells only part of the sto - ry. The media and pollsters, prior to the election, forecast a substantial loss for Re - publicans. Not just President Trump, but all Republicans across the board, being drug down by the President. That didn’t happen on election day. In fact, across the nation and here in Oregon, Republi - cans had a good year. Instead of crippling losses, Republicans actually made gains. Consider the following: Pundits said Democrats might win a ma - jority in the U.S. Senate. After the election the GOP held firm with 50 seats. Demo - crats held 48. After the Georgia two-seat special election in January, the Democrats achieved a 50-50 tie (giving the Demo - crats control with the Vice President as the tie breaker). But it wasn’t the drub - bing forecast before the election. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was certain Dem - ocrats would increase their grip on the majority. Instead, Republicansmade gains. Eleven Democratic incumbents lost their seats to Republicans and no Republicans lost their re-election campaigns. One Lib - ertarian seat was won by a Republican. Three open seats currently held by Re - publicans were won by Democrats. This is a net Republican gain of nine seats (two seats are still in contention). Eleven states held gubernatorial elec - tions in 2020. In all but one race, the party of the incumbent governor won the election. But in Montana, a Republican candidate (Greg Gianforte) won, replacing the current Democratic governor. So, the balance of political parties among gover - nors changed from 26 Republicans and 24 Democrats to 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats. This is a win for Republicans. In state legislative chambers, Republicans now control 59 of the nation’s 98 state chambers (Senate andHouse). Democrats had forecast flipping 10 chambers but failed. Republicans now control both the Senate and House in 24 of the 36 states where state legislators are responsible for redrawing district lines using 2020 census data.