OSBA Legislative Policy Committee openings offer chance to guide advocacy

OSBA is a member-driven organization. The OSBA committee that sets our goals in the Legislature has open positions, and nominations close soon. If you are interested in the Legislature and directing what our legislative team works on, consider seeking a nomination for the Legislative Policy Committee.

First things first, what is the LPC?

The Legislative Policy Committee (LPC) consists of the 21 voting members of the OSBA Board of Directors and 20 representatives nominated and elected by local boards (school district, education service district or community college) from 14 governance regions throughout the state plus a representative from the Oregon School Board Members of Color Caucus.

What does the LPC do?

The LPC’s primary work responsibility is to develop OSBA’s Legislative Policies and Priorities. The policies and priorities are the guiding document for the legislative team working in the Capitol. The LPC, with staff assistance, generates the recommended policies and priorities.

The policies and priorities are then adopted by a vote of OSBA member districts.

LPC members are also expected to be a regional source of information among OSBA members. This includes bringing regional concerns to OSBA staff, conducting outreach and acting as a resource for legislative matters regionally, and taking part in direct advocacy with legislators and legislative staff.

What are the meeting requirements?

The policies and priorities are adopted biennially. The committee meets in January and May of even-numbered years to draft the policies and priorities. The committee also meets at other times in odd-numbered years at the call of the LPC chair, the vice president of the OSBA Board.

The committee meets in Salem for a Friday evening session followed by Saturday morning and afternoon sessions. In-person attendance is required. OSBA covers the cost of travel and associated expenses.

Who is eligible to participate?

To serve on the LPC, you must:

• Be an active member of your local board within the region nominating you to the LPC.
• Be a member of a local board that is a dues-paying member of OSBA.
• Be nominated by a local board in the region electing you to the LPC.

There’s a nomination process? Does that mean there’s an election involved?

LPC members are elected by their local members of the relevant OSBA region. To be a candidate, an eligible individual must be nominated by a local board. Often elections for LPC positions in a region have only one nominee, but sometimes there is a contested election in a region.

This sounds like quite an extra commitment. Why should I be interested in this?

The LPC is an incredible opportunity for board members to participate directly and meaningfully in Oregon education issues. For example, OSBA legislative priorities for years have included stable and adequate funding for K-12 education. Passage of the Student Success Act in 2019 has largely achieved this particular priority. LPC members were instrumental in setting the stage, over a period of years, to enable our Oregonians for Student Success campaign to be successful and get the bill into law.

The Student Success Act and successful attainment of many longstanding OBSA legislative priorities in the 2019 session mean that the drafting of the next iteration of the priorities will be even more substantial than previous sessions.

What’s the deadline for nominations to be delivered to OSBA?

Sept. 27! That’s less than two weeks away. It’s time to get moving! If you are interested in serving on the LPC, work with your board or reach out to OSBA about next steps.