The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is the voice of bicyclists at the Oregon state capitol.
We represent bicyclists and the bicycle industry, and are recognized as a powerful grassroots lobby. We have a long record of success of working with legislators to pass good laws and defeat bad ones, with the goal of improving cycling in Oregon.
In 2007 the BTA has an exciting legislative campaign that includes three bills to increase traffic safety and tracking all other bicycle related issues. In 2005, the BTA successfully passed two bills, one that gives bicyclists more rights on the road, and one establishes a statewide Safe Routes to School program. Read the summary or read the full text of the laws and information about prior sessions.
Oregon’s state legislature convened on January 8, 2007 and is scheduled to meet for six months. Sixty representatives and thirty senators work together with the governor to pass laws and apportion state funds. (read more).
Influencing What Becomes Law
The BTA’s power comes from you, our members and constituents who take the time to contact your legislators and speak up for bicycling and walking.
As a citizen, you must contact your State Senator and Representative to discuss issues of importance and specific bills. Your opinion on a specific legislative matter or bill matters! We urge you to contact your Representative and Senator in support of the BTA’s 2007 bills. Information on how to contact your elected officials is at the bottom of this page.
Stay Informed and Get Involved
During the legislative session, watch this web site for timely legislative updates. We'll post info about every bill that deals with bicycling, hearing dates on bills and strategic opportunities to contact your legislators.
The BTA e-mail Digest will also provide regular updates. The Digest is written for people in the Portland metro area -- click on "Get BTA News" in the upper-right of this page and select BTA Digest.
Your voice is especially critical if you live outside the Portland metro area. Join our legislative alert list to be informed of these opportunities -- select "Advocacy Alerts" in the same "Get BTA News" drop-down menu.
Your voice matters!
The more folks who weigh in, the more influence bicyclists have. YOUR legislator m ight be the one whose vote makes all the difference: hearing from “real constituents” is an extremely powerful way to sway opinions. For more information, or to get involved, please contact
Emily Gardner at 503.226.0676 x11
More Resources
How a bill becomes a law
SalemWatch
SalemWatch is an email newsletter that tracks environmental legislation in Salem during the session and state agency actions at other times of the year. As a broad publication, it has only limited information about bicycling, walking and transportation bills. To subscribe or get more information, email ocn@olcv.org, or check out www.olcv.org/ocn.
Email Action Network
The OCN Email Action Network sends action alerts on key conservation issues approximately once every two weeks during the legislative session describing easy and powerful actions you can take. Register at www.actionnetwork.org (select Oregon Conservation Network as the organization) or email ocn@olcv.org.
Legislator Contact Info
Find out who your State Representative and Senator are
Contact information for Senators
Contact information for Representatives
Committee Information
Committee rosters
It’s especially important to contact legislators who serve on committees that hear the bills (for bicycling, it’s usually the Transportation Committee of each house)
Contact information for committee administrators
Committee administrators can tell you when bills are going to be heard by a committee.
Hourly updates of committee agendas
Read about BTA work in recent legislative sessions
