Dear Representative,
I'm writing you to please oppose H.B. 3147. This bill is a disservice for those of us that spend time with our families out in the wilderness - camping, hunting, and traveling off-road. The State Forestry, and BLM are not maintaining their roads as they used to due to economic, environmental and political reasons. Because of this we need more capable vehicles to be able to enjoy the forests and wilderness in and around Oregon. Sometimes, this means raising our vehicles to various heights above factory settings to provide additional ground clearance. A stock vehicle, with its lower level of clearance, would be more likely to gouge and tear up the road than one with a lift.
In the economic hardship that we are currently in, it would be a failure to many to pass this bill. I encourage you to talk to the many companies who sell equipment that would be affected by this bill. Les Schwab Tires, Cage Offroad, Sky Offroad, Metal Tech, and many other companies are based in Oregon. Many more nationally incorporated businesses and franchises operating in Oregon that cater to the truck market would also be affected. These are companies that employ locally and benefit their local community.
Further, consider the hardship and expense of individual citizens required to remove equipment and modifications that were bought with their hard earned money. This equipment would now be worthless since no one in the state of Oregon would be able to use it. Consider also the expense of purchasing new components required to replace the equipment removed, and you can begin to see how this could easily cost into the thousands for individual citizens. This would be a severe financial disservice to your constituents to say the least, not to mention the many Search and Rescue or Fire volunteers who use their own vehicles in the service of aiding the public.
For all these reasons, please vote to oppose H.B. 3147.
Sincerely,