VETOED

by Steve Panten

Last month Governor Evers vetoed 2 bills that would have protected a consumer’s choice to purchase a piece of equipment with an engine fuel source of their choice. His response to the veto was that signing the bills would diminish the state’s ability to combat climate change by shifting to new technology. During the Public Hearing session for these bills ABATE of Wisconsin, who worked to have these bills drafted, argued that “we believe that a consumer should be educated about which power source is appropriate for their individual needs based on their own research, and financial resources.” We felt that as a consumer choice bill, the ability to choose the product that our research determines would be the best for our work, recreation, or transportation are long cherished freedoms. Prohibitions on products based on their energy source would restrict that freedom of choice, often making travel and tasks more difficult, or potentially creating harmful situations. We are very disappointed that that the Governor chose to make this about clean energy rather than allowing a consumer to determine when a technology has improved enough to support their needs.

Governor Evers also stated that he objected to the language in AB141 and AB142 that would have prevented any local government agency from issuing their own regulations on what type of power plant is on a piece of equipment that you purchase. While we appreciate his concern of removing local regulations, we also expressed that these bills would have prevented anyone from preventing the sale of electric powered equipment. ABATE will continue to look at what options we have to ensure consumers in Wisconsin are able to purchase a piece of lawn equipment, an ATV/UTV, snowmobile, motorcycle, or any other vehicle which will have the correct power source that they feel is appropriate for their needs.

We would like to thank Senator Tomczyk and Representatives Schuett and Green for introducing these bills and for all the work they did to help move it through the Legislature. We also would like to thank all the motorcyclists that worked hard to educate their legislators on why this is important to consumers in the state. Although we did not have the support of any Democrats in the legislature, it was not for lack of effort. Thank you to everyone that showed up on ABATE’s Lobby Day or stepped up and responded to our call to actions. Stay vigilant!

Recently we were contacted by an employee of the Medical College of Wisconsin about a new study being done called “Prehospital Analgesia Intervention Trial”, or PAIN. This study is designed to compare the results of giving a patient suffering from a traumatic injury one of two drugs for pain, Fentanyl or Ketamine. Although both are currently used to treat pain, they are not FDA approved for use in patients with traumatic injuries before they arrive at the hospital. They reached out to inform us that this study is going on, and EMS will be administering these drugs to patients with traumatic injuries, who are being transported to participating hospitals. The paramedics and emergency department physicians will not know which drug was given although they could request the information. This study will include males over 18 and females over 50 that qualify, without their permission, unless they opt out using this link; http://www.litesnetwork.org/pain/. If you choose to opt out, you will be sent a yellow silicone bracelet signifying your decision. ABATE is very concerned that motorcyclists, and other residents, are being used as test subjects for medications that are not approved unless they know to opt out. This would be a blind study where our biggest concern is that to avoid being a subject of this study, we are required to opt out rather than being asked to opt in. John and I are going to try to learn more about this including who is funding it and if it is necessary at all.

This month we will have a group traveling to Harrisburg Pennsylvania for the Motorcycle Riders annual Meeting of the Minds. This is our opportunity to meet with some of the most dedicated Freedom Fighters in the nation to learn from each other. I look forward to this event every year and am privileged to have been asked to present a breakout session on our success as the best Grassroots Motorcyclist Rights Organization in the State. Look for more information about what we learned next month.

Final thoughts by Steve. Even though we were not successful in getting AB141 and AB142 signed into law, I was humbled to see all the work our members were willing to put into the fight. We knew it was going to be difficult and we have not given up, just need a different strategy. Thank you to everyone for all your time and effort.

That’s it.

Steve