A publication supporting the rights, safety and freedom of all motorcyclists through education and not legislation. APRIL 2011
VOLUME XIX, ISSUE XII
abate’s
abateofaz.org
ABATE of AZ. 7509 N. 12th St, #200 Phoenix, AZ 85020
Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Permit #1662 Phoenix, AZ
new lobbyist
This is my “maiden voyage” as Designated Lobbyist for A.B.A.T.E. of Arizona and at this time I would like to thank Bobbi Hartmann for all she has done for the motorcycling community in Arizona over the past several years. Her legacy will be a challenge to duplicate. Our bill SB1227 to close the HIPPA Loophole for Motorcyclists is currently still active, and we’ve been reassured that it will move forward, however it still has hurdles to overcome and unfortunately
time to get through the legislature is just ticking away. We had a stakeholders meeting with representatives from the insurance industry, (Blue-Cross/Blue Shield and United Healthcare), after much discussion we conceded definition 20-448 that states: A health care insurer shall not deny health care coverage to any individual based solely on that individual’s casual or nonprofessional participation in the activity of motorcycling. The bill needs to move forward and we are still waiting for it to be scheduled in Rules with the concessions we’ve made. Thanks to all who came down to the Capitol for MDATD, it was certainly an interesting mixture of activists that day. Of course there was the Motorcycling Community and two groups from the Hispanic Community that were marching in front of the Capitol as well as a group of Engineers gathered on the north lawn. No matter your political views it was a great show of what our country is all about. We were clearly diverse and incred-
ibly free to press our individual issues directly to our elected officials. If you call yourself a patriot please don’t make this, one day of the year, the only time you reach out to communicate with your political representatives. It doesn’t matter if you’re out of work or employed, college educated or a high school dropout, you are an American and you must participate in the process in any way that you can. Please feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions regarding legislation caoreilly48@aol.com . I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to answer you immediately, but I promise to find an answer and pass it along. My goal is to reinvigorate activism in the community, if you’re not involved; you have no reason to complain. Carole O’Reilly Designated Lobbyist A.B.A.T.E. of Arizona