ADVENTURES IN LOBBYING

By Seven

ADVENTURES IN LOBBYING. May has ended, so the meat and potatoes part of Lobbying Season is behind us. There is still work to be done, but there is far less knocking on the doors of legislative offices. As I sit here these first few days of June, I am quite pleased with the successes that came out of the Milwaukee 1A Region, Southeastern Wisconsin, and Wisconsin as a whole, over the past few months. In case you weren’t paying attention, I’ll go back over some of the things that happened. I think things will make the most sense if I review it in chronological order. Lobbying Season typically starts in February, about the same time that there are meetings of the National Council of Clubs (NCOC) and the Allied Clubs of America (ACOA). The NCOC is made up of clubs from across the US and for the last several years has had a close working relationship with the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF). In February, the NCOC had one of its semi-annual meetings in St. Lous, MO this year. At that meeting, the presenters included leaders from the MRF, such as MRF President Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, and ABATE of Wisconsin’s own (award winning) Legislative Chair, Steve Panten. It cannot be overstated that the invitation of these presenters demonstrates just how far the cooperation between Motorcycle Clubs and Motorcycle Rights Organizations has come. Also, about that time the ACOA held a meeting at which their member clubs voted to have a letter included with the ABATE of WI packets to be handed out on the Wisconsin Lobby Day. The ACOA, despite its name, is a regional alliance of Motorcycle Clubs here in Wisconsin. Their letter of support is yet another demonstration of support that the club community is trying to show toward the efforts of ABATE of WI. If you were at our March Lobby Day (and you should have been), you probably saw the letter. Just to review, we’ll go over all the lobbying topics for both the state and nation next. The topics this year were picked by ABATE of WI for the state lobbying and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) for the national topics. ABATE of WI chose to address vehicles operating in autonomous modes, which was already illegal in WI, but ABATE felt it should be spelled out as there is confusion due to product advertising. ABATE also chose to request a Bill protecting a consumer’s choice of fuels. The MRF’s primary topics were getting cosponsors on HR 1435 the Preserving Choice in Vehicles Act, and cosponsors on HR 906 the Repair Act, trying to maintain our rights to aftermarket parts. The MRF also pursued getting cosigners to a letter to be sent to the DOT as they are 15 months past due in seating the Motorcycle Advisory Council (MAC). That brings me to March and the ABATE of WI Lobby Day in Madison. Milwaukee Region 1A and Waukesha Region 1F combined to meet with 28 legislative offices, all at the same time, all in the same room! The meeting was held in the historic North Hearing Room where 18 of the invited offices had a representative present, including 5 legislators attending in person. Luckily, we also had 40+ constituents from the Milwaukee/Waukesha area, who made it despite breakdowns causing them to arrive on the 3rd bus to be transporting them that day. Looking back on a day where so much went wrong, we also had so much go right! After Lobby Day, things were not finished, next came STEAM. The Seminar To Educate And Motivate (STEAM) is a conference held in the Midwest. It rotates the hosting state each year and this year it was in North Dakota. Yes, Bismarck, ND in April, on purpose. The Wisconsin participants traveled through a blizzard that had semi-trucks lying on their sides along the interstate. But once we arrived, we had great networking with presentations by a representative of the Petroleum Institute and Slider from the Sons of Silence MC in Iowa. We anticipate the Petroleum Institute guy to be a valuable resource in future efforts. So, Next would come Biker’s Inside the Beltway in May. NO! Wait! During Lobby Day, ABATE of WI had stirred enough interest that Bills were written to try to save internal combustion engines (ICE) in Wisconsin. ABATE of WI took a stance in favor of these bills and representatives of ABATE from Milwaukee 1A and Waukesha 1F traveled to Madison twice for committee hearings on these Bills. So far, the Bills have passed the Assembly and look good to pass the Senate. Getting the Governor’s signature is questionable, however, the process of getting this far led to ABATE of WI finally getting a meeting with representatives of Governor Evers office. So, win or lose, we made progress in the process! Now, on to Biker’s Inside the Beltway in Washington, DC in May. NO! Wait! US Representative Gwen Moore from the Milwaukee Area chose March and April to hold a couple of Town Hall meetings in her district. Congresswoman Moore has had a reputation for keeping ABATE of WI and the MRF at arm’s length. However, at both town halls, one on Mitchell St in Milwaukee and the other in Wauwatosa, ABATE of WI representatives were able to speak and present some of our key issues. Contacts were made, pictures were taken and Gwen Moore personally acknowledged ABATE members at both meetings. This would come back around! Now we could go on to Washington DC and Biker’s Inside the Beltway (BITB). As usual, Wisconsin sent a good sized contingent to the annual Lobbying effort. About half of those attending this year had never been to BITB in the past. It is always good to get fresh faces, fresh ideas and more people who are willing to demystify our process of ‘redressing grievances’ as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. The Wisconsin team divided up the legislative offices and visited them all. The MRF talking points were presented, questions answered, pictures taken, and new relationships established. Even Gwen Moore’s office. Her office had scheduled the ABATE/MRF meeting to be via Zoom Call. However, quoting the relationships made at the recent Town Hall meetings, 1A members were able to get in the door and meet with her staff in person! This doesn’t even cover the Motorcycle Awareness Rallies that were held or any other ABATE activities. It has been a full spring! But it has been a good spring. How did we do on our topics? In Wisconsin, our ask for preserving the choice in fuels turned into the B Bill on ICEs. In Washington, the Bills are still in progress, but the letter to the DOT got 33 cosigners, 6 of them from Wisconsin! We may not win everything, but we are making progress as we always do. Just another day of moving forward.