Jr. Patriot Report

by John Stumpner

As  most of the Junior Patriots already know, ABATE of Wisconsin began as a grass roots group to protect the rights of Wisconsin bikers.  While ABATE of Wisconsin does have many other educational and safety programs, its main purpose still is protecting biker’s rights and ensuring the continuing freedom of the road.

As part of this mission to ensure freedom of the road, early every year ABATE members go to the Capitol in Madison for ABATE’s Lobby Day event.  This past year was no different. Back in March, hundreds of ABATE members and a few Junior Patriots went to the Capitol to ask for a couple things. One, we asked that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation thoroughly investigate all crashes involving self-driving cars.  This is important as people should know whether the crash was caused by human error or some problem with the car’s computer and sensors.  Two, we asked that a law be passed to make sure that gasoline will always be available for our vehicles, especially our motorcycles.  This is important because some states have passed laws to outlaw gas vehicles by a certain date.  These states have not considered the costs of these laws and how many of their citizens will no longer be able to travel due to the high cost of electric vehicles.

Due to the efforts of ABATE of Wisconsin members two, yes two, days after our Lobby Day event, bills were drafted to forever protect and allow gasoline engines in Wisconsin.  Senator Cory Tomczyk from Marathon County and State Rep. Ellen Schutt from Rock County and State Rep. Chanz Green from Ashland County drafted two bills, one to protect internal combustion vehicles and one to protect internal combustion devices (the bill numbers are AB141 and AB142 in the State Assembly and SB212 and SB213 in the State Senate).  Both these bills had successful public hearings and are in the first stages of the legislative process, which can take up to two years before the bills are passed.

While ABATE of Wisconsin has taken the lead on getting these new laws moving, we did not do it alone.  Exercising the First Amendment rights of Free Association, ABATE got help from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce group, some snowmobile clubs, car clubs and even some landscapers.  These groups spoke at the public hearings along with ABATE to make sure our state government knows how important affordable energy is to all Wisconsinites.

Once again, you can see how effective a people’s group like ABATE can be working within the system.  As Junior Patriots, you can help with and learn more about how to protect the rights of bikers in Wisconsin and the United States.

 John