Posted on October 8, 2010 by Harold Phillips
On October first The Oregon Media Production Association released its first ever “Legislative Candidate Report Card” to its members as part of their monthly newsletter, The Call Sheet. The report card was compiled by sending a questionnaire out to all candidates for the 2011 Legislature, and by examining incumbent candidates voting record on two important pieces bills in the 2009 legislature: Senate Bill 621, which raised the “cap” on rebates the Oregon Production Investment Fund could offer to qualified producers, and Senate Bill 863, which created the “indigenous OPIF” for Oregon-based filmmakers.
See what grade legislative candidates for YOUR district got on the OMPA’s Candidate Report Card
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download Acrobat Reader)
Don’t know which candidates are running in your district?
Find your incumbent State Representative and Senator (and your House and Senate Districts) by clicking here.
Next, find out who’s running against your Representative by clicking here, and find out who’s running against your Senator by clicking here.
As the heading on the Candidate Report Card points out, many of those running for office didn’t return the OMPA’s questionnaire – but that doesn’t mean those candidates don’t support Oregon’s film and TV industry. They may have simply not finished the questionnaire by the deadline to return it (some candidates get 7 questionnaires like this one each day!)
Take a look at the candidate report card, and take a moment to contact your legislative candidates today. If they received a high-grade on the report card, thank them for their support of the Oregon film and TV industry, and offer to support their campaign! Consider contributing a few bucks to the candidate’s campaign (remember, up to $50.00 of your political contributions can be deducted from your Oregon taxes) or offer to volunteer!
If the candidates for your House and Senate district got a grade of B or lower (or didn’t return the survey at all), they might need a little more education on what film and TV production does for the state. Contact them, and ask them what part the Oregon film and TV industry plays in their plans for our state’s economic recovery. Use the facts contained in Candidate Report Card to remind them that our industry employs thousands of people state-wide, and brings over $60 million into the state annually. Remember, though, not to be confrontational in your discussion – the point of efforts like these is to educate our future legislators about the industry so they’ll be able to make informed votes once they take office!
(And if you meet with your legislative candidate in person, make sure that our industry sticks in their mind by wearing an Oregon Film and TV Dollars T-Shirt or Cap!)
Finally, encourage all the candidates for your district to tell us how much they support our industry on the Share Your Story page, as Rep. Matt Wingard did! We want to give film and TV supporters a chance to meet the candidates who support our industry. We’re looking forward to having a long relationship with them in the coming session!