Chief Ben Stange, Polk County Fire District #1

Our combined legislative group known as the Fire Service Chapter is the Alliance between the SDAO Fire Districts and the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA). The group had our first meeting on September 30th. Since then, things have moved very quickly. We have been working on developing our relationships with one another as well as with our joint lobbyists. While doing this we have worked to educate one another and tried to develop a workflow to ensure that when the session arrives, we are able to act quickly and in unison. 

The Alliance is a group made up of multiple players serving the greater fire service.

Representing the SDAO:
Chief Ben Stange (Polk County Fire), Chief Darren Bucich (McKenzie Fire), Chief Scott Stanton (Umatilla County Fire), Director Angie Frye (Drakes Crossing Fire), and Director Brad King (Junction City Fire). SDAO staff that regularly attend include Frank Stratton, Scott Neufeld, and Mark Landauer.

Representing OFCA:
Chief Brian Stewart (Clackamas Fire and the Legislative Group Chair), Chief Jim Oeder (Nestucca Fire and OFCA President), Chief Brian Smith (TVF&R), Chief Chris Heppel (Eugene. Fire). Dave Pickhardt (OFCA Managing Director).

The Victory Group are our lobbyist that represent the Alliance- Kevin Campbell and Chloe Haller. The group maintains a standing invitation to our State Fire Marshal, Chief Ruiz-Temple, who is typically able to attend.

In addition to the “standing members,” subject matter experts are invited to attend and provide insight into issues before the Committee.

In addition to the emails and phone calls that are exchanged daily, we meet weekly for a one-hour virtual meeting. Once each month we also meet in person.

Currently there are a lot of conversations around funding including but not limited to EMS and balance billing, supporting grants such as the seasonal capacity grant through OSFM, EMS modernization, tax incriminate financing, and more. We know that some of our work will be advocating for improvement, but much of our time will may be spent defending against legislation that may run counter to our mission or solvency. 

The goal of the Committee is to have a good idea of how we will prioritize each of the issues that will be before the Legislature by the end of December.

To ensure a fluid and transparent process the group has developed an Order of Operations for business.

As a matter of organization and order of operations the OFCA will funnel all legislative communication and support through the Alliance.

Chief Brian Stewart represents the OFCA as the lead legislative committee member and Chief Ben Stange represents SDAO as their fire service legislative lead member.

Any member of the fire service is able and welcome to move legislative ideas forward with their respective legislatures. The intent of the Alliance is in no way designed to prevent local efforts that may even become state-wide efforts.

For a Legislative Concept (LC) or bill to have the support of the OFCA, it must be approved and vetted through the Alliance. After careful review of the LC and the impact on the Oregon Fire Service the Alliance will determine the potential for success and lack of any conflict with other legislative work.

The Victory Group is extremely engaged at all levels of the legislative process and is hired to provide guidance and advice to the Alliance and specifically to the OFCA to ensure the OFCA is supporting appropriate legislation.

Should any member of the Oregon Fire Service seek to move legislative action forward and want the support of the OFCA- the correct order of operations is:

• Contact Chief Stewart or Chief Stange- request to be on the Alliance agenda
• Present to the Alliance the legislative concept or idea
• The Alliance will review, comment and recommend
• The legislative committee will report back to the OFCA Board at a monthly meeting to inform and educate the board of directors on the legislative action that may receive OFCA support

The group would also ask all fire chiefs to please notify Chief Stange or Chief Stewart about meetings that are happening with local officials and/or representatives as early as possible. This will allow our group and our lobbyist to ensure a continuity of work and ensure we are not having competing or duplicate efforts that take away from efficiency or the potential for success during the legislative session.

Please contact any member of the group should you have questions.

Thank you for your trust and support as the Alliance works to ensure the Oregon Fire Service is represented legislatively and we strive to improve the service provided to all of Oregon.