GRASSROOTS LOBBYING IMPACT

The impact of motorcyclists coming to the Capitol to discuss concerns that affect them has truly paid off! 4 days after we left Madison, we had a Vehicle Data Protection Bill number, and it was assigned to a committee in the Senate. SB 1080 was moved to the Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection where ABATE Life Member Senator Knodl is the Chair. Having a bill number and assigned to a committee is exciting because the motorcyclists that attended Lobby Day were able to get enough Legislators to sign on to the bill draft, that leadership decided to move it.

Because the Assembly adjourned shortly after we left Madison, they did not have enough time to act on it, but this was still a success because now we know what kind of support we will get for next session. Later in the month, the Senate adjourned as well with no action taken on SB 1080. ABATE would like to thank Senators Stroebel, Ballweg, Quinn, along with Representatives Bodden, Behnke, Binsfield, Goeben, S. Johnson, Rettinger, Rozar and Schutt for signing on to support this piece of legislation. By having this introduced, we now know who will support it next session and what committee it will be assigned to. If you happen to run into one of these mentioned legislators in your district this summer, be sure to thank them for signing on to it and let them know we are not done. Protecting a consumer’s privacy by not allowing vehicle manufacturers to sell information about where and how you drive is important to all residents in the State.

Now that everything is settled down after Lobby Day, I have time to reflect on it and offer some more thoughts. As always, I appreciate your thoughts as well because that’s how we become stronger and more successful, but here are mine. Having around 500 motorcyclists in the Capitol is powerful. To see some legislators come out of the floor session to meet with us personally is a tribute to the respect that we have in that building. Not every legislator was in our meetings but most at least sent a staff member to hear our concerns. We are good at grassroots lobbying and our elected officials understand that. I only hope that next year is bigger than this year. Reviewing the exit evaluations that people turned in after their meetings showed that we had quite a few first-time attendees. That’s exciting because we showed how much 500 motorcyclists could accomplish, imagine if we had 2000?

In March, John Reblin and I met with State Department of Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson and WI State Patrol Superintendent Tim Canahan to discuss motorcycling in the state. This is something that we do every spring to get a pulse on what the DOT is looking at in regard to motorcycling in Wisconsin. It is unfortunate that we went in with fatalities up as high as they are, but they were open to discuss our thoughts on what is going on and how we can correct it. Training. We need to reduce single vehicle motorcycle crashes and voluntary experienced and beginner rider training is where we need to start. Recently we saw both Illinois and Connecticut have mandatory helmet legislation being introduced. Lowering our fatalities will help to ensure Wisconsin remains a helmet choice state.

On June 7-9 there is going to be a Wisconsin Motorcycle Training Summit being held at the Waukesha Technical College in Pewaukee. It is a weekend long event being put on by the state Motorcycle Safety and Advisory Committee (MoSAC). There will be activities every day, but you don’t need to be there every day. There is more information coming about the event, but this is a great place to improve your skills. There will be classroom discussions as well as learning on the course from rider coaches and police motor patrol. There is more information on the website www.mosac.us. You do not need to attend all weekend, but if you can, look at the schedule of activities and pick a day or two to join them to improve your skills.

One more thing that happened at Lobby Day – A great story that I heard from Representative Bodden. In 2015 when we first started discussing a vehicle data privacy bill, then Representative Kremer was a cosponsor on our bill. At that time, an intern named Ty Bodden was working in Rep. Kremer’s office and did all the research for his boss on this topic. He understood the importance of what we were trying to accomplish and convinced his boss to be a cosponsor. Fast forward almost 10 years later and Ty Bodden is now Representative Bodden and is a cosponsor on our bill. This is important to remember when meeting with staff members and even local politicians. My Assembly member is Representative Gundrum, and I learned about him when he was on my previous Village and County Boards. I guess the message is not new to ABATE members. Be involved. The world is run by those who show up so take the time to show up and support those that support us. Get to know who is running for elected office and vote motorcycling in April.

That’s It,

Steve