November 10, 2024

At the AORTA-AAWA joint meeting at Portland Union Station yesterday (Saturday, November 9), Government Affairs Director Luis Moscoso led a lively panel discussion with staffers Jason Hitzert, representing Oregon Senator Chris Gorsek; Aaron Brown, representing Oregon Senator-Elect Khanh Pham; and Spencer Rosenau, representing Oregon Representative Nancy Nathanson.

Luis reports:

At the AORTA-AAWA joint meeting on Saturday I led a panel discussion with representatives from the Oregon Rail Caucus (ORC).  Representatives from the offices of Oregon Senator Chris Gorsek, Senator-Elect Khanh Pham, Representative Nancy Nathanson were engaging and assertive stating the ORC's proposals for all things rail in Salem next year.  They also reported on the Oregon JTC Interim work travelling all over Oregon to meet with constituents and rail advocates about transportation issues relevant to all.  They are now meeting to summarize what they learned from those meetings and to provide a report to the public on their findings.

It was a wonderful and illuminating discussion. What a pleasure it was to hear how informed and active the Oregon Rail Caucus proposes to be on issues important to passenger and freight rail. They requested more active support from Rail Advocates to seriously promote rail funding and governance opportunities going forward.

Suzanne Carlson, ODOT Administrator Public Transportation Division, also joined us for a good discussion of current affairs and what's ahead for the agency.  Q & A for both Ms. Carlson and the Legislative representatives was open, robust and transparent. I look forward to working with the ORC and AAWA's sister organization, AORTA, to assess next about how we can collaborate on this work in 2025.

Regards,

Luis Moscoso
Government Affairs Director
AAWA/AORTA

Join us for the next event on December 14. Register at https://www.aawa.us/events/annual-meeting-december-2024/ #GreaterNW #WashingtonState #Oregon #Rail #PassengerRail

Other presentations

Oregon Intercity Transit (Bob Krebs)

Cascades Corridor and Passenger Rail Update (Suzanne Carlson, ODOT)