Upcoming Motorcycle Issues At The Legislature
Yeah, we can at least dream about this kind of riding in the next few months.
The new legislative session will begin shortly after the first of the year and there will for sure be two bills of interest to motorcyclists on the docket. This bill would create a new classification of motor vehicles, removing autocycles, such as the Polaris Slingshot, from some rules applying to cars, some rules applying to motorcycles, and removing things such as autocycle crash statistics from being merged with motorcycle crash statistics.
The Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program will also be coming up because when it was created the Colorado Sunset Law required that it be periodically renewed. The Department of Regulatory Agencies has conducted a sunset review and is recommended it be continued for another five years.
ABATE of Colorado, as well as other interested parties, will be watching those bills. According to Stump, ABATE’s legislative liaison, the language of the autocycle bill is not exactly what ABATE would prefer but it is good and it may be able to be improved in committee.
MOST is something ABATE would like to see either abolished or revised to take it back to its original intent. Again, revisions are possible in committee.
Because I am interested in these and other legislative matters concerning motorcycles, I recently allowed myself to be elected the ABATE District 10 Legislative Affairs representative. The following are some excerpts from the letter Stump sent each of us about what we’ll be doing this year.
The emphasis this year is getting as many ABATE members legislatively active as possible. We’re going to have a very busy schedule down at the Capitol and we need a lot of help.
I’ll be sending out weekly updates on legislative issues. It will be your job to get this information to your district members. More important, I’ll be sending out “Action Alertsâ€, when I need you to contact your legislators. Sometimes I’ll send out talking points and sometimes I’ll send out a form letter, depending on where the bill is in the process and how much time we have to take action. A personal letter from talking points is more influential than a form letter, but sometimes we might only have 1-2 days to contact them. In such case, a phone call to your legislator, which is probably even faster than sending an e-mail, might be more appropriate.
Besides waiting for an “Action Alert†and a specific reason to contact your legislators, there is a lot more you can do to help our “causeâ€. Everyone should be contacting both their Senator and Representative and introducing themselves, mentioning you’re a constituent and an ABATE member. You might even explain a little about ABATE. Also congratulate them on winning their election, if appropriate, especially if they’re new.
Lastly, you can all help out by coming to the Capitol. Set up a time with your legislators and have a face-to-face with them. It’s the best way to introduce yourself. Or you can just come to the Capitol without an appointment, but chances are you’ll wind up talking to an aide rather than the legislator. Either way, you get to express your concerns as a constituent. Try it; you just might have some fun!
I was down at the capital a lot last session so this won’t be much of a change, I’ll just be operating in a more official capacity. And of course I’ll keep you up to date right here.
Biker Quote for Today
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.
