March 2016
A publication supporting the rights, safety and freedom of all motorcyclists through education and legislation
VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE X
new arizona
Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Permit #1662 Phoenix, AZ
legislative session
abateofaz.org
ABATE of AZ. 7509 N. 12th St, #200 Phoenix, AZ 85020
By Johnny D ALMA MC ACMC Designated Lobbyist ABATE State PAC Officer
Hello again my freedom loving readers. As we all heard, the legislature is in session once again. They are bound and determined to make this session as short, or shorter than the 2015 session. This year we tried a new tactic, we had about fifty bikers at the Capitol on opening day. I prepared a flier with information on two bills that we had to fight. The first was SB 1054, a bill that would have made it a crime to take video of police officers within twenty feet of them while they were engaged in any type of official actions. I first thought “whose responsibility is it to bring the tape measure?” We needed to kill that one. Senator Kavanagh, the bill’s sponsor, pulled it a couple of weeks after the public outcry became deafening.
The second bill was HB 2052. It is the same one that Representative Friese from Tucson tried to push last year. Basically a fee for not being required to wear a helmet or a five hundred dollar fine if you are caught without one. That bill is going nowhere as it did last year. David Gowan, the Speaker of the House, does not like helmet laws and respects the motorcycle community’s desire to decide for ourselves. Outside of that most of the other motorcycle related bills are only of interest to specific people like motorcycle dealership owners and Slingshot owners. I was interviewed by a reporter from Cronkite news about the helmet bill. She also interviewed Randall Friese and Mick Degn. The article can be found here: Cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2016/02/02/Arizonans -go-head-to-head-on-motorcycle-safety-laws
She and I spoke for nearly forty five minutes and I had about three sentences in the article. The fatality statistics she was given need to be vetted and I will soon do just that. The vocal minority Rep. Friese cites are the owners and riders of the 192,000 registered motorcycles in Arizona. While we are not the majority of registered voters, we are a sizable interest group. We are actually the single largest interest group in the state. If only we could get every rider engaged politically, we could rule the legislature. Owning a motorcycle means you are of voting age. My dream is to one day be at the level of Cathi Herrod who can summon thou-
sands of calls and emails on a bill within hours. If our group of lobbyist and activists could walk in and honestly state that we represent 192,000 voters, they would shake in their boots when we set foot in sight of the Copper Dome.
On another note, the AMSAC council is short two members as of this writing. In2015 they only had one meeting instead of the four they are mandated by law to have each year. I spoke with Mari Hembeck at the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. She said that Alberto Gutier, the GOHS director, was considering putting an end to AMSAC. I had learned that the law that created it, as well as the funding from motorcycle registrations, was set to expire in June of this year. As I was working with Deb Butitta and Karen Fann on extending the sunset of these, we found that Skypilot and Bobbi Hartmann had spoken with Senator Worsley and he dropped a bill to extend the sunset until 2024. I have contacted Jim Butsback and he is actively searching for ABATE members to apply for the positions. You can go to bcgovernor.gov and apply yourself if you want. All you need is a resume including your activities in the motorcycle community. We desperately need someone from our group on that board. Please step up if you can. There will be more news next month. Until then enjoy the early summer we are experiencing. Stay hydrated while riding in the warm sunshine. Live to ride, ride to live.
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