New Opportunities

by Steve Panten

2020 has been a strange year so I guess it’s no surprise that the 2020 elections were also arduous. Whether you believe the election is over or not, we have a clearer understanding of who we will be working with in Madison.
We have a new member of Congress that we are already familiar with and we will see new leadership in the State Senate. Congratulations to newly elected Congressman Fitzgerald. The motorcyclists are very familiar with former Senator Fitzgerald, since we have worked with him in his position of Senate Majority Leader in Madison. Scott is taking the seat that was held by retiring Congressman Sensenbrenner. Losing Congressman Sensenbrenner is going to hurt motorcyclists across the nation. He was a champion for motorcyclists’ rights throughout his tenure in politics.
The vacant Majority Leader position is going to be filled By Senator LeMahieu who we have worked with in the past. I am looking forward to working with him and his staff on our legislative issues. Along with a new Majority Leader, there will also be a new Senate President in Madison. Senator Kapenga will be filling the position formerly held by Senator Roth. ABATE of Wisconsin and Senator Kapenga have worked together on issues in the past but the one topic that we have differing opinions on is autonomous and connected vehicles. ABATE of Wisconsin is not opposed to the emerging technology, but rather we support responsible testing and deployment to ensure the safety of all legal road users.

Biker Day at the Capitol is set for March 11th, 2021. The most important day of the year for motorcyclists in the State of Wisconsin. This will be our first opportunity to work with the new State Senate and Assembly. We are planning on everything happening as usual, including using the Park Hotel (formerly Inn on the Park) as a headquarters and utilizing busses to help members get to Madison. If there is anything that we learned from 2020, this is subject to change. The Legislative Committee will be working on creating the handouts and getting the information about our agenda items as soon as we can. Right now, we are looking at talking about autonomous vehicles and how they will work with motorcycles, anti-profiling resolution and road construction funding options. Mark your calendars and do your best to join us. This day is not successful without you.

Hardtail and I are planning on traveling to Washington DC in February to meet with the Wisconsin delegation in Congress and the Senate. Since this is a new session, everything that we have been working on with the Motorcycle Riders Foundation will have to start over. The most important thing that we will be trying to do is to keep the motorcycle friendly language in the Highway Bill. We were able to get support for the language, including our own Congressman Gallagher introducing the language to re-establish the Motorcycle Advisory Council, from most of the Representatives from the State. We are hoping to have the same success when this bill is reintroduced.

This is the end of another year and time to reflect on the past 11 months. It was a short session because it was an election year. We had success in helping to get SB43, the Paddlewheel raffle bill, passed out of both committees unanimously and it passed floor votes in the Senate and Assembly unanimously, only to have the Governor veto it. We were also invited to have a seat at the table for autonomous vehicle implementation discussions. For us to be invited to join other groups at the table is a huge feather in our cap for all the work that was done leading up to this. Motorcyclists need to be represented when these discussions are happening. Remember the phrase “if you are not sitting at the table, you are on the menu” so I am happy that we are at the table. This technology could be the end of motorcycling as we know it. Just look at what is happening in Sweden with discussions about banning motorcycles from the road. As we learned this year, anything can happen.

Thank you to everyone for all the help this past year. We are the best, but we can do better. I am humbled to see how effective we are when we work hard with our friends in Madison and Washington DC. We have great relationships with our elected officials, but I think we still need to do better. I have a personal goal of making sure that my elected officials have my personal cell phone number and I have theirs. It’s not easy to get to that point, but it all starts with building a relationship with them so they trust you and know that you will always be straight with them. What’s your personal goal to protect motorcycling in the State of Wisconsin?

Take time this month and check up on your ABATE family and your personal family. It was a tough year for everyone, so make sure they are all doing ok every day, but especially during this holiday season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

That’s it.
Steve