OTA Dispatch Issue1, 2021

4 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch FROM THE PRESIDENT Jana Jarvis OTA President/CEO WE ARE IN the middle of the first quarter of 2021 as I write this column. The legislature is beginning the fifth week of their virtual session and the prospect of actively influencing the process is presenting a challenge. The ability to meet with legislators, testify on bills, and offer amendments is far more restrictive when interaction is limited to online meetings or phone calls. No longer can lobbyists walk a legislator to a committee to question them on one of their proposals or ask for the opportunity to offer amendments. Interactions between the lobby is limited to virtual coalition meetings or phone calls between advocates for and against specific bills. The opportunity to build relationships with new legislators or new lobbyists is virtually nonexistent in today’s world where we are restricted to interactions online. So, the question remains—how good will the policy be that comes out of this process? You overlay the events of the past few months and the vitriol of the election season and there is much to be concerned about. At this moment, two seasoned legislators are facing removal from the legislature for vastly different reasons, but the intent behind their actions will be the basis of the outcome. While legislators have faced sanctions before, and some have chosen to resign, the prospect of their peers voting to remove them has not happened in Oregon’s history. As I write this, the U.S. Senate has taken a vote to impeach a former president—a process that many suggest is unconstitutional. While the impeachment process failed, the fact that this process was based on assuming “intention” should give you pause. If this is the future of politics in our country, we all have much to be concerned about. Politics has always been a difficult game. It is at its best when advocates for and against proposals work together to find common ground. That is the basis of a constitutional republic. It is a game of increments where “bold” proposals are often pursued over a course of years rather than instituted as a whole with unintended consequences. It is best played by those who can look at the picture as a whole, rather than simply their angle of the view. The individuals who play this game—elected officials, lobbyists, citizen activists—are at their best when they can seek to understand opposing viewpoints and handle these objections and concerns with grace. Lately, I have thought of the images of President Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. Two individuals with widely differing perspectives who worked to find common ground and who respected the other’s viewpoint. How much better would we be if we had more of that in this process? In order to have others understand your perspective, however, you must be willing to engage in the conversation. As the individual most often “at the tip of the spear” in these battles for the trucking industry, I realize that it is difficult to “engage in understanding” in the heat of battle. To effectively promote policies that will help grow the trucking industry, we as the industry must be willing to share our story. That is why your association has implemented a Key Contact program for all of Oregon’s 90 legislators. If each of those legislators had a trucking “friend” to turn to over the variety of policy decisions that come their way, how much more effective could we be in helping to shape the outcome? It is easy to complain that your representative or senator doesn’t understand or care about our industry—it is harder, but more effective, if you have invested the time to help them understand the implications of their decisions. Paid Family Leave, Infectious Disease Standards, Low Carbon Fuel Standards, Cap and Trade are but a sampling of the various policies that impact your cost of doing business. These are policies that have been widely debated, adjusted, compromised, and implemented. Many of these policies create uncertainties and added cost—but all of them could have been much worse without the help of your fellow trucker. A group of your peers meet weekly to work with our lobby team and offer perspective to the debate during the legislative session. Some sit in monthly workgroups to help guide the discussion around improvements to our road network. Others Navigating the Realities of a Virtual Legislative Session 2021 promises to bring opportunities along with the challenges. We have been working hard to prepare for these opportunities and look to you to help us accomplish our goals.