Legislative Report

Legislative Report

by Steve Panten

We have said in the past that Biker Day in Madison is “the most important day for motorcyclists in the state of Wisconsin” and by looking at the number of people who showed up on January 23^rd, I believe our members understand that. Thank You to everyone that showed up. Whether you were there to present the information to your legislator or just to show them that you support what is being said, showing up is the important part.

This was our last chance to make progress on the remaining items on our legislative agenda. We did a great job of getting the information to our Representatives and explaining to them why it is important to us. We will continue to push until the legislature adjourns for the year sometime in April. I would like to thank all the members who helped put this together. It takes a lot of dedicated people to organize the busses, the bus captains, to get all the material organized and then put it all together. I would like to thank Mike Hupy for helping to offset the cost of the busses. Thank you to the AMA and the St Croix Valley Riders for their donations to help offset our costs. Also thank you to the CC Riders MC for their hospitality and support. Whenever we need something in Madison we can always count on the CC Riders for help. Thank You.

Right now, are waiting for all interested parties to reply to a request for a meeting date to discuss our autocycle bill SB636/AB751. Representative Jacque and Senator Testin are looking to get us all together and working to come up with a compromise. I have heard from Harley-Davidson and they are committed to supporting what we are doing.

On the Federal level, there is progress on motorcycle profiling but we will need to stay active. We will need to continue to watch for alert’s and Call to Actions to respond to the needs from the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. The MRF collected 5000 signatures from an on-line petition that they were circulating asking the Federal Department of Transportation to include real, on-road motorcyclists to the Motorcycle Advisory Committee. Imagine that….a motorcycle advisory committee with motorcyclists on it. Wouldn’t that make sense? Well, we are also closer to making that a reality. Thank You to everyone that took the time to complete the petition.

2018 is an election year in Wisconsin. It is a quiet time for us in regard to accomplishing anything legislatively in the state level but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be trying. I generally feel that election years is a time for relationship building. This is the time to get to know who is running and more important, get them to know you. It’s never too early to start. In January we had an election that sent new people to Madison and also gave current legislators new opportunities in different positions. Find out more about who is in office and who is in a new office. Learn more about new faces that are coming into the arena and support those with the same beliefs as you. Election years are a great chance for us to assemble a legislature that is friendly to motorcyclists and believe in creating a safe and enjoyable riding environment in Wisconsin.

That’s it

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Treasury Report

by Laurie Thompson