Legislative Report

by Steve Panten

As the Legislative session wraps up for another year we can feel good that we gave it a hell of a run. Our final push at the end included a very productive Lobby Day followed by a sit-down meeting with Polaris and Harley Davidson. I am very happy to say that because of the effectiveness of our Lobbying efforts, we had 6 legislative offices joining us in the meeting. It was a perfect opportunity for them to see that we are willing trying to work with all parties but apparently, we are not going to agree.

It was a tough meeting to sit through, and in the end, we are right back where we started. Similar to our meeting with General Motors on the Vehicle Data Privacy Bill, we had to continually correct misinformation that was being presented. It is very difficult to make progress when both sides are not willing to work for a result. So we are back to we started with our Autocycle Bill…..for now.

Where does that leave us? We still have work to do. This is an election year so our Representatives will be spending a lot of time in the Districts. We need to be seen…everywhere they are. We need to support our friends. Help out in their campaigns….walk in parades with them….and keep our agenda in their minds. We will need to remind them that we are not opposed to autocycles being on the road, but rather to make them available to anyone with a regular driver license instead of the requirement to have a motorcycle endorsement. All we are asking is that if you don’t need an M endorsement to drive the vehicle, it should not have a motorcycle license plate. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, not to everyone.

What is our biggest obstacle? Other states. Huh??? What does that mean? With the majority of other states passing laws that keep these vehicle in the motorcycle class (as a subclass) but letting people with a standard driver’s license drive them, other groups say that we are trying to be “more restrictive”. I am not sure how they figure we are more restrictive, but that is the phrase being thrown around. Our goal is to create a definition of a motorcycle which includes training. If you don’t have to straddle it and if you have a steering wheel with a gas and brake pedal you don’t need motorcycle training so it should not have a motorcycle license plate because it’s not a motorcycle.

Thank you to everyone that showed up when we needed them to and for writing letters and making calls. Election years are tough because they end early so legislators can get back to their districts to meet with constituents. That doesn’t mean business in Madison stops, but rather that they only work on budget and other critical items.

On the federal level we made a big step towards getting a street motorcyclists group on the motorcycle Advisory Council. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation presented a list of 5000 signatures to NHTSA saying that we need a voice. The result was a commitment that the MRF will be on the agenda for every meeting and will have an opportunity to address the council. It’s not exactly what we were looking for but with the attitude towards motorcyclists in this country, this is a big step. Thank you to everyone from Wisconsin for taking the 30 seconds to complete the “call to action” that the MRF sent out. This is what happens when all the states work together (see my statement about other states in the fourth paragraph).

As a wrap up for this session I would say it was very successful. We got our ROW violations bill signed into law after many years. We put up a great fight for on our Vehicle Data Privacy Bill and our Autocycle Bill. During the remainder of the year we will continue to have discussions with any groups that can help us, and we will work to gain more friends in the legislature. Thank You. That’s it.