The Most Important Day of the Year

by Steve Panten

The “Most Important Day of the Year for Motorcyclists” in 2019 will be on February 28th. That is the date for Bikers Day at the Capitol, or Lobby Day if you prefer. We are working on finalizing the details, signing the contract with Inn on the Park and getting the busses lined up. We will have new people in Madison representing some areas and we will be able to re-acquaint with others that have helped us in the past.

Every year we draft a new legislative agenda addressing the issues that are important to motorcyclists in the state. This year at ABATE of Wisconsin’s Annual Meeting, the Legislative Committee will discuss what items we will be talking about in Madison on Feb 28th.

The Legislative Committee is open to every member in good standing. As Chair of the Committee, my voice is no more important than yours. It is the members that attend the committee meetings that drive what we talk about in Madison. That doesn’t mean that we won’t change the agenda as the year progresses, it’s just a starting point.  Be part of the process. Join us on October 14th at the Hotel Mead and give your opinion on what we should be looking at in 2019.

We have new information to present to the legislature on both our Vehicle Data Privacy issue and our Autocycle issue. Along with that, we will talk about Tiered Motorcycle Licensing and Truck Platooning. Let me just say that as far as tiered motorcycle licensing is concerned, we will vigorously oppose any proposed legislation requiring it. The State of Wisconsin had tiered motorcycle licensing many years ago and it was changed to a single license for all motorcyclists (except for trikes of course). This item came up by a Senator during our first Grassroots Lobby Training session for the year held for Districts 4 and 7. He said that they need to look at motorcyclists who are new license holders, driving motorcycles that they feel are too big for them resulting in fatalities. This is definitely a problem that we have been looking at but increasing the financial burden for motorcyclist to continue testing up to a larger motorcycle is not realistic. We will be discussing other options to look at.

We started working with a Representative about making changes to the current truck platooning law. As we talked about before, current law has no restrictions on the number of trucks that can operate in a connected line or where they can operate. We are looking at not only restricting the number of trucks connected and the roads they can operate on, but we also would require some sort of identification on these vehicles so drivers know that the vehicle next to them may not operate in a manner that we are accustomed to.

Like I said earlier in this report, we held our first Grassroots training at the land for Districts 4 and 7. It was a great turnout and great conversations about why we are so successful. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn what it takes to get a bill passed. The next scheduled trainings are; District 3 on October 21st at Oconto Falls Library, District 6 on November 3rd at R-Bar in Cameron, District 1 on November 4th at Roadhouse in Johnson Creek. All trainings start at 10 am and finish about 2 pm with a free lunch.

One final thought from me personally……..RIP Marlene. I would like to take space in this article to say how influential Marlene was to my involvement in this organization. I learned so much from her and she gave me the encouragement and confidence to not be afraid to step up. Early on in my membership I used to join in on conversations that she would be having with  Ed Williams or Gary Klinker or Dave Dwyer or Hardtail.  As a matter of fact, I would join in on a conversation that Marlene was having with just about anyone because I knew that I could gain knowledge from her. Even my most recent memories of talks with her included learning about why we do what we do. I am a better member, and for that matter….a better person, because of her. RIP Marlene.

That’s it