BY LARRY SCHWARTZ
PRESIDENT, AMA DISTRICT III
March 29, 2002

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s go to press, with lots to tell you this time around.

Here’s the latest from the political wars in Albany and the efforts we are making there. Sometimes, things will happen very fast at the Capitol, but most of the time, it’s like a slow motion waterfall. However, if you’re not there every week in their face, it would always be the slow motion waterfall if anything. We’ve been having great success in our rounds each week.

First off, let me tell you about the latest meeting I’ve had with officials from the New York State Thruway Authority. As you all know, the bill that would have given motorcyclists a lower toll on the New York State Thruway did pass the legislature last year, but was vetoed by the Governor (veto #25) on two bases: 1. He didn’t want to set a precedent by allowing toll-making prerogatives taken away from the agency and 2. The Authority itself had brought up the possibility of fraud through the use of lower cost EZ passes for motorcycles, being used in other vehicles to get a cheaper rate.  However, the Governor noted in the last paragraph of the veto that the reasons for giving motorcyclists that lower toll were "compelling" and he ordered the Authority to make an "evaluation" aimed at setting up a separate (lower) toll rate for motorcyclists administratively.

That evaluation is ongoing at the present time. Yesterday (March 28th) I met with the William Rinaldi, Deputy Director of Operations for the Thruway Authority along with three other people from the staff including and engineering type, communications director and someone from the accounting staff.  We spent an hour together and they were nice enough, but couldn’t and of course, wouldn’t make any promises.

My argument was that it doesn’t make any difference what other states are either doing or not doing and since revenue is not a question (which it isn’t in this case), there is only one thing to do; THE FAIR AND RIGHT THING. I again noted to them the fact that motorcycles do little or no damage to the road, cause little or no pollution and relieve congestion.  The engineering type wanted to know if there were any studies showing the lessened impact that motorcycles have on roads compared to cars or other vehicles (trucks, vans, etc) and I have asked national AMA and FEMA (Federation of European Motorcycle Associations) to see what they can come up with. They all seemed to know that the argument about fairness was a valid one and I believe the session was good to have and gave me another chance to make our case. One of the four used to ride and I joked a lot with the others about becoming riders. Listen, we’re going to keep on driving toward the goal.

On the fraud question, my first argument was that trucks and cars have different EZ passes, different colors. Why not simply make the motorcycle EZ pass a different color and make the penalties for fraud so stiff that it wouldn’t be worth anyone’s time to do it. I could tell they really didn’t have a comeback for that one, since it’s so logical. I told them that eliminating EZ pass for motorcycles or just making us use the cash lanes was NOT an option and they agreed that EZ pass would have to be part of the solution. I’ll keep you up to date on this, but it isn’t going to happen quickly.

YIELD THE RIGHT OF WAY

We’re pumping every week on the Yield the Right of Way bill that would stiffen penalties for those kinds of accidents that result in injury or death. I’ve gotten very good reaction from just about every legislator we see (that’s about 5-7 per Tuesday). The bills are the same in both houses and are still in the Transportation Committees.  I went to see Julie Barney, transportation analyst for the Assembly a couple of days ago to make my case personally for moving out of Committee and we’ve talked with key staff in Senator Caesar Trunzo’s office about the same thing. He is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. I have great confidence we can move this AMA initiative bill.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

The bill that would not allow communities to ban motorcycles from roads if there are any state funds involved in the design, construction, operation or maintenance of said roadway has passed the Assembly and is on the Senate floor waiting for a vote. I’m working hard to get Senator John Kuhl to get a vote on it. If we can get it through, since it’s based on federal regulation already in effect re: federal funds, I think the Governor would sign it.

MOTORCYCLE ADVISORY COUNCILS

Right now, there seems little support for Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffman’s bill to create motorcycle advisory councils in each D.O.T. region in the state.

800 NUMBER

I’ve negotiated use of the 1-800-POTHOLE number that D.O.T. uses to take calls about potholes. According to their chief of maintenance, Pete Ordway, you should be able to call that number, get a message with motorcyclists included and be able to report road conditions hazardous to motorcycling.

I NEED EVERYONE THROUGHOUT THE STATE TO GIVE THIS A TRY AND REPORT BACK TO ME ON WHAT THEY’RE GETTING.  WHEN I TRIED IT, IT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY AND I TOLD ORDWAY SO.  HE WANTS MOTORCYCLISTS IN VARIOUS AREAS OF THE STATE TO CALL THE NUMBER AND SEE WHAT THEY’RE GETTING. PLEASE DO THIS AND REPORT BACK TO ME BY E-MAIL AT lschwartz@webramp.net

ATV TRAILS AND MAINTENANCE FUND BILL

This is our toughest issue because the so-called "environmentalists", who are really the anti-access crowd (Adirondack Council, Sierra Club, EPL, etc) don’t want us to have the fund or trails or any rights whatsoever if it’s an ATV or dirt bike. They want them banned from any public land. They have major clout in the legislature and Governor’s office, but we’re making some progress, as hard as it is. We’re having a strategy session next week with the sponsors of our bill in the Assembly and Senate and we’ll see what progress we may make. I emphasize to everyone again that off-road issues are very important to every motorcyclist or should be. If they take the off roaders rights away or try, they’ll be doing it to us even more later.

HANDLEBAR HEIGHT BILL

This bill would raise the legal height motorcycle handlebars could be from the present 15 inches above the seat to a maximum of shoulder height. It’s just been introduced by Assemblyman Joe Robach of Rochester at the request of motorcyclists in his district. He’s asked me to help find a Senate sponsor and I suggested Senator John DeFrancisco, who has been very helpful to us and they’re going to try him. I’ll start lobbying this bill after I’ve worked up a research sheet on it to counter the expected opposition arguments about high handlebars being a safety hazard.

THE HELMET AMENDMENT

The helmet amendment bill is not moving.  With David Gantt of Rochester continuing as Chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, it has absolutely no chance of moving despite the fact that he has moved many of our other issues.  We continue to lobby for it, but everyone we talk to makes it clear they know it’s not going anywhere until Gantt is out of there.  That could happen next year because many assemblymen are retiring including Arthur Eve of Buffalo.  The Speaker is going to have to replace Eve with a minority deputy speaker from upstate and that could very well be Gantt.  We hope that’s what happens and will be trying to influence that in any way we can.

THE GANTT BILLS

The infamous Mr. Gantt has sponsored bills, which would limit helmetless riders in a parade to 20 and to toughen standards for helmets beyond federal standards (if you can call them standards at all). The Minority Leader’s office in the Assembly called me to ask what our position was on these bills and I told him, of course, that we were completely opposed. The parade bill was therefore "laid aside for debate". It doesn’t matter. There are no Senate sponsors and even if there were, both bills would be D.O.A. even before arrival in the Senate. Our friend, Sen. Owen Johnson, assured me of that.

THE AWARDS BANQUET

The District III Awards Banquet is coming up on April 6th and this year, we’re giving plaques to two legislators and two others, as well. This year, our Assembly legislator of the year is Joseph Robach of Rochester, a really strong supporter of our issues. In the Senate, it is John R.(Randy) Kuhl of Western New York. Randy sponsored our successful motorcycle awareness training bill and the anti-discrimination measure.

This year, for the first time, we’re giving plaques to the "Legislative Aides of the Year". These are key staffers who do much of the work on which legislators base their decisions. This year they’ll go to Cathy Krasnopolski, legislative director for deputy speaker of the Assembly Ronald Canestrari and John DiVito, legislative analyst for Vice President Pro Temp of the Senate, Owen Johnson. They really deserve the recognition. Staff aides rarely are recognized, an omission we intend to repair, starting this year.

THE PAC

I’ve been able to attend a number of fund raisers this year because of your generosity in contributing money to our AMA-PAC. I cannot tell you how much this means; being able to support the legislators who work hard for us. The fund raisers are not cheap…anywhere from $250 to $400 per ticket, but it really goes a long way when you’re able to show up, as a motorcyclist, to show your support. This is an election year and the PAC needs support from EVERYONE. It’s our channel to legislative influence. Please, if you haven’t contributed, at least for this year, get your club to start a PASS THE PAC HAT program at your monthly meetings. I emphasize again, if every club member threw one or two dollars a month into that hat and every road club participated, we’d have a tremendously strong PAC. It’s simple, pass the hat, make out a club check in the amount collected to AMA-PAC and send it to me at 15 Dawn Drive, Scotia, New York 12302. For those who have already done this, my grateful thanks. You have no idea how helpful it has been.

Here are some other things you should know about:

On March 1st, Lt. Colonel Duane G. Carey, pilot of Space Shuttle Mission STS-109 carried into space a flag bearing the emblem of the AMA. Carey has been an AMA member for 24-years and asked the organization for something he could take with him on the mission. Kudos to Colonel Carey.

Get this: According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, 710,000 new motorcycles were sold in the U.S. in 2000 compared to 546,000 in 1999. 66% were on road while 3% were dual motorcycles and 31% were off highway vehicles. New motorcycle retail sales equaled an estimated 5.5 billion dollars in 2000.

Here’s the latest on who owns motorcycles with latest figures from 1998.

There were 6.57 million motorcycles in use in 1998 owned by 5.70 million people. The average motorcycle owner was 38 years old and median household income was $44,250 in 1998. Ownership age has gone up dramatically since 1990 when it was 32 years old.

FEDERAL PROPOSALS TO OPPOSE OR SUPPORT

SO WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS.

The AMA has denounced the European Union’s proposal to slap Harley-Davidson motorcycles with a stiff tariff in a trade war with the U.S. over steel. AMA contends there is no rationale for including H-D bikes in this tariff move which makes the company a pawn in this international "chess match". AMA will work with European motorcycle groups to get the EU to drop this proposal which includes a number of products in retaliation for U.S. tariffs recently placed on imported steel.

The National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives(NAGHSR) wants federal employees to be able to lobby states. AMA strongly opposes efforts to change the law that bars them from doing so. Provisions preventing such expenditure of taxpayer funds to lobby for helmet laws and against repealing them were put into the Transportation Act for the 21st Century(TEA-21) specifically by congress to keep this from happening; to leave such decisions up to states without interference from the federal government. Safetycrats everywhere want to change that now. Please write your congressmen and senators to oppose this blatant and forbidden effort by NHTSA.

AMA is supporting legislation to protect federal lands from damage by ANYONE, not just off road folks. An earlier bill targeted just motorized recreation. The new bill says stiff penalties would be handed out to ANYONE who intentionally damages land controlled by the U.S. Forest Service, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or National Park Service.

If you’ll remember, in an earlier AMA Corner column I told you about London’s answer to traffic congestion in the city’s central sector—all cars and lorries would be fitted with satellite tracking systems, allowing the Government to tax drivers on the amount they contribute to congestion. Motorists will have to pay $7.11(5 pounds, English) each weekday to enter the central area of London. Cameras will match license plates to those who have paid. Any motorist not paying by the end of the day will be fined $113.69(80 pounds, English) per day. The good news, MOTORCYCLES ARE EXEMPT FROM THIS AS THEY ARE SEEN AS REDUCING CONGESTION AND THEREFORE PART OF THE SOLUTION.

Finally, don’t forget ABATE’s annual Freedom Rally at the State Capitol on Monday, May 20th. They’ve honored me by asking me to speak along with many others. Mark it on your calendar and try to make it.