Legislative Report

By Steve Panten

Success in Washington DC! Sometimes we don’t see immediate results after we meet with our Federal Legislators, but instead we lay the groundwork for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) to follow up. This year was a perfect example of that. When we met with Congressman Sensenbrenner’s staff we discussed H.Res.318: Promoting awareness of motorcycle profiling and encouraging collaboration and communication with the motorcycle community and law enforcement officials to prevent instances of profiling, and how important this issue is to the motorcyclists in the state. Well… It worked. Congressman Sensenbrenner signed on to H.Res.318! Why is this so important? He is on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee which is the committee that needs to pass this. While we did a great job presenting our position (pat on back to everyone for all the hard work), Megan from the MRF held follow up meetings and did a great job closing the deal. Wisconsin has bipartisan support on this resolution with 3 Congressmen signed on. Thank You to Congressmen Sensenbrenner, Grothman and Pocan. Again….Great Job to everyone that helped with this.

On the state level we made progress on profiling as well. Our meeting with the Dodge County Sheriff to discuss the profiling that is going on in that area seemed to help as it appears to have settled down for now. We will continue to monitor the situation but we will need the help of all motorcyclists to report if this is happening to you. Thanks to Mike Hupy and Hupy and Abraham, David “Double D” Devereaux traveled to the state to explain what motorcycle profiling is and what you can do about it. A little background on Double D; He is a club member from the State of Washington and he founded the Motorcycle Profiling Project. He is responsible for helping to get anti-motorcycle profiling legislation passed in Washington and Maryland. By doing so he created a template for all states to use when they are fighting the same issue. I would like to thank Hupy and Abraham for bringing Double D in to talk with us. The meeting was very informative and helpful.

In the meeting he explained that the most important tools that are needed to pass anti-profiling legislation is proof, and working together. ABATE of Wisconsin has been asking motorcyclists to let us know if you feel that you have been profiled. On the home page of our website (www.abatewis.org), under popular links, is a form that you can print out and complete. The information is completely anonymous. There is a website and address for you to send this to so we can collect the information and develop a pattern that will help us if we need it. On the form we ask for your name, address and phone number but it is optional for you to fill that part out. I encourage you to do it because if we need someone to step up to testify, we will need someone willing to do that. We will only use your personal information with your permission.

On to other things… The Governor’s Steering Committee on Autonomous and Connected Vehicle Testing and Deployment (say that three times fast) has completed their work and has been dissolved. I have a copy of the final report that will be sent to the Governor and you can clearly see the influence that our very own Ric Mellon had on the result. He was able to get some very important language in the bill that will be to our benefit including getting them to recognize that Wisconsin has a variety of road users including motorcyclists, snowmobiles, horse riders and bicycles. He also made sure that motorcycles were named in regard to testing. One more thing is Truck Platooning which we talked about before, is referred to as rolling roadblocks. I would like to thank Ric for all his efforts but he is still not done. Ric has accepted a seat on the newly formed State Working Group on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. Having Ric in the heart of these conversations is putting motorcyclists in position to make sure that Wisconsin roads will be safe for all legal users.

While we have been relying on Ric to keep us informed on this issue we need to stay vigilant and support his efforts. This is an important topic to talk to your Legislative Candidates about when you see this summer. Don’t forget to ask them about their thoughts on having driverless and connected vehicles on Wisconsin roads with little to no regulation. Ask them why vehicles that can operate in autonomous mode should not have some sort of designated marking so we will know that this vehicle may not operate as we would expect. That designation could be as simple as a different color license plate or it could be a flashing light. I am only sort of kidding about the light thing… I mean… why not? I might not be able to see a different color license plate at night but I sure would see a light.

Are you ready for the State Election? Are you ready to vote to support your lifestyle? Do you know the candidates position? Your first chance to shape the Legislature in the State and in Washington DC is on August 14th. Vote informed.

Are you also ready to attend ABATE of Wisconsin’s Grassroots Lobby Training days? Mark your calendars for the dates that work best for you:

District 1 – November 4th in Jefferson

District 2 will be joining training sessions in other regions

District 3 – October 8th in Oconto

District 4 – September 8th at ABATE Acres (stay for the Board meeting the next day)

District 5 will be joining training sessions in other regions

District 6 – November 3rd in Cameron

District 7 will be joining training sessions in other regions

District 8 – September 29th in Monroe

Please let your Region Rep or District Director know that you will be attending so we can plan enough food. The training will take about 5 hours and I guarantee you won’t regret it.

That’s it