Who is Rep. Denham? Why does he oppose truckers’ rights?

“Oh, him again,” I thought last week when I heard the name of Rep. Jeff Denham mentioned on the radio.

I know his name because of the Denham amendment. The Denham amendment is like a rash on my consciousness. I hear the name and I need to scratch. It is itchy but also stings.

The Denham amendment would pre-empt state laws addressing compensation and benefits for drivers. For example, California’s laws about meals and rest break provisions. Denham sneaked his amendment onto a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill. OOIDA opposes the Denham amendment. So do I.

Though it has passed the House of Representatives, it is not a done deal. Before becoming law, it first must pass the Senate. We still have time to fight it, and we should.

However, that was not why Denham’s name was in the news last week. He had shocked his Republican colleagues by leading a group of House Republicans to circumvent the conventional legislative process. His goal was to force a vote on some immigration proposals. It was his response to congressional inaction to fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Who is this guy, Denham? I had to nose around a little.

For starters, Rep. Denham is conservative. For instance, Americans for Prosperity rate Denham 87% conservative, according to Vote Smart.

For a rock-ribbed conservative Republican, going out on a limb for DACA seems out of the box.

There are reasons, though. He represents California’s 10th Congressional District. U.S. Census Bureau data say it is 40 percent Hispanic. Of course, DACA is important to his constituents.

I see of two other reasons that Denham wants to buck the GOP party line on DACA.

One, is he is married to a Latina, who is the mother of his two children.

Two, his family grows almonds commercially at their ranch in Merced County. Denham also co-owns based Denham Plastics, a Salinas, Calif.-based provider of containers for harvesting and shipping produce. California’s agriculture industry involves many people of Hispanic heritage.

In addition, of course, he worries about getting re-elected. Though he is an incumbent, first elected to the House in 2010, two years ago he beat his Democratic challenger by just over 3 percentage points. That is what Ballotpedia reports.

He squeaked out a win while outspending his competitor by more than 2½ times.

Now let’s circle back to the Denham amendment. We should check Rep. Denham’s financial support.

The top five industries that contributed to Denham’s 2016 campaign to be re-elected includes “Trucking,” according to Ballotpedia. That category contributed $122,050 to Denham’s campaign war chest.

I don’t have the specific list of Denham’s donors. I do, however, have some idea of the big trucking industry contributors to federal candidates for the 2018 election cycle, thanks of OpenSecrets.org.

The American Trucking Associations sits atop of the list. It contributed $481,708.

Trucking company Centra Inc. ranks No. 2, contributing $298,680.

Prime Inc. grabs No. 3. It contributed $218,162.

At No. 4 sits National Tank Truck Carriers Inc.  It contributed $139,500.

Oshkosh Corp., formerly Oshkosh Truck, slots in at No. 5. It ponied up $116,190

Then, there at No. 6, ranks the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association. OOIDA coughed up $109,000.

Stopping right there in totaling the political contributions, the big carriers have outspent OOIDA $1.25 million to $109,000.

For Denham, it may be the money, but maybe he really has bought into the “patchwork quilt” argument of ATA.

It seems politicians swing from “We can’t have a patchwork quilt of regulations state by state” to “Don’t you dare encroach on my state’s rights” when it suits them.

ATA and the mega carriers supporting it prefer the patchwork quilt argument this time.

Larger fleets must be losing their collective minds over the thought of paying truckers for detention time and meals or rest breaks. They don’t want individual states like California to stand up for the rights of truckers.

“If he is sincerely interested in solely addressing a patchwork of state meal and rest break laws, he should consider a more concise amendment. The amendment being debated now is overly broad and has no business being considered in an aviation bill,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA president.

Saying he gets re-elected, Denham must aspire to become chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Already, he is the most senior member of California’s delegation on that committee. He likely is getting cozy with the heavy hitters in every mode of transportation, including the ATA and the mega-carriers. Currently, he chairs the railroads subcommittee. Railroads seem appreciative of his work. You see that when you notice CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. are listed among Denham’s top contributors.

The last piece of the puzzle I will mention here is the Wal-Mart piece.

In November 2016, a California federal jury ordered Walmart to pay 850 truck drivers a total of $54 million in back pay. This case stemmed from a 2015 ruling that the retailer’s fleet did not comply with California minimum wage laws. Wal-Mart owed the drivers for layover time, inspection time and rest breaks.

Now, I bet that made Wal-Mart wince. Friends and business partners surely took Wal-Mart’s side.

Several news accounts note that Rep. Denham’s wife is a former senior sales manager for Earthbound Farms. Earthbound supplies organic produce to Wal-Mart.

So, let me wind this up.

I don’t expect Denham to ever get why the rights of truckers need protection. After all, this is the third time has tried to make his amendment into law. His constituents are not necessarily the people who live in his district. Or state.

We need to tell our senators what is at stake. We need to remind them the right thing to do.

And we need to remember OOIDA doesn’t have the deep pockets that the mega-carrier groups do. OOIDA’s membership is the foundation of its power. We are 160,000 members strong. Our members let their senators and representatives know what’s important.

In case you need a reminder, check this out.