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THE AMA CORNER-February 2002
By Larry Schwartz
President, AMA District III

And so another month has passed and the state legislature is now in full swing. So is the political season because this is an election year and every assemblyman/woman and state senator will be looking for financial support.

We are very fortunate that our AMA-PAC has been able to accumulate the several thousands of dollars we’re going to need to make sure that our friends get some financial support from us. Let me give you an example. On February 26th, I attended a fund raiser for the Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Ron Canestrari. It cost $250 to go. I was glad to pay it as Canestrari has been a very good friend to us and has sponsored and backed all our bills and issues. That’s just the first of many fund raisers I will have to attend to let those who support us know that we will do the same for them. Next month I’ll be at Joe Robach’s event. $250. We have to go to Senator De Francisco’s fund raiser as he was the sponsor of our ATV bill. $300. Later in the month, there is a must attend fund raiser for Senator Owen Johnson, who is our strongest supporter in the State Senate and one of the powers of that body. $400.

With just those four fundraisers alone, $1200 of our PAC have and will be going out. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s what the PAC was built for. But as you can plainly see, it won’t take much to squeeze that PAC amount down. There are still commitments we have to make for gubernatorial candidates and some others in the state legislature. What I’m trying to show you is that there is nothing more important to our RIGHTS than supporting the AMA-PAC. The PAC Board is very careful about how money is doled out. We realize full well that the money comes from your pockets, the pockets of motorcyclists both on and off road. We are so very grateful that so many of you have dug into those pockets to give us some of what we need to gain that influential access into legislative leadership that has already paid off in a number of pro-motorcycle legislative initiatives. Just think about it! Signs, warning motorcyclists about grooved road, the first AMA vanity plate for motorcyclists in the nation, a soon to come 800 number we can call to complain about road conditions that are hazardous to motorcycles, legislation signed that mandates motorcycle awareness training be included in every automobile driver education course, legislation signed to mandate more thorough investigation of motorcycle accidents, legislation passed that would have reduced tolls both on the New York State Thruway and Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority facilities. I’ll have more on the toll issue in just a minute. All of this in the space of just a few short years where before there had been nothing for us. Sure, it’s because of personal effort by myself and Bob "Prospector" Boellner by lobbying every week when the legislature is in session.

But, the fact is, without the AMA-PAC, to give us the clout we need to let legislators know that we are players and that we will fight for our rights, some of that may not have come to pass. It has been some time since I received any checks from clubs in any of the Districts for the PAC except for a few who are religious about contributing. Believe me, I know that what we’re doing here with a PAC is something that simply hasn’t been done before in any AMA District in the country. We’re proving that it works and works well. Personal commitment and financial backup for those efforts have made the difference between motorcyclists in this state simply being nobodies in Albany and becoming an entity with a modicum of power to get things done at the state level in the interests of motorcycling. We have the reputation in Albany now. We’re not a bunch of weird folks who ride in once a year and scream a lot on the Capitol steps about one issue. We’re known now in the legislative halls as an organization of intelligent, community oriented and committed citizens; an interest group that is not shoved aside, but is listened to with respect. Regardless of the morons on Long Island this past weekend who again have demonstrated the ignoramuses we still have in motorcycling, we will overcome it. Anyone with any brains at the legislature knows and has already told us they know that what happened there is not typical of motorcyclists today.

I’m appealing again for the clubs in all the Districts and all the Districts are part of the AMA-PAC, to begin a "Pass the PAC Hat" program at their monthly meetings. It’s such a simple way to support the efforts we’re making in Albany. Just pass the hat. If everyone threw in one or two dollars, that all, just one or two dollars, we wouldn’t be needing to ask for big sums later. If every club came up with 20-25 bucks in the hat at their meetings, made a club check out in whatever the amount was to AMA-PAC and sent it on to me, we would have the money we need to grasp the kind of political influence we want to have.

LEGISLATIVELY

Our package this year contains a number of bills and here is what’s happening with them as of this moment.

  1. S-6150 and A-9703. The bill would stiffen the penalties on Yield the Right of Way violations in cases of injury or death. This bill is in the Transportation Committees in both houses and I fully expect to see them reported out. Neither Committee staff in either house had taken a serious look at the bills as of this last Tuesday, February 25th. However, Julie Barney, the transportation analyst for the Assembly told me she would be taking it up shortly. Same for the transportation experts in the Senate Transportation Committee. So far, in lobbying visits with various legislators or their staffs, we have not encountered any serious opposition to the proposal. There has been a strong focus this year on driving, from reducing the cap for DWI to graduated licensing and other measures. Our proposal, being carried the Deputy Majority Leader in the Assembly(Ron Canestrari) and Vice President Pro Temp in the Senate(Sen. Owen Johnson), we think has a good chance because of that focus this year. This bill is our major initiative this year.
  2. S-706A and A-906A. The bill would bar communities throughout the state from banning motorcycles from any road, street or highway that uses state funds for design,construction, operation or maintenance of those byways. It would not stop communities from regulating traffic or noise or pollution etc. This is an anti-discrimination measure that passed the Assembly on February 25th. We are trying to get the Senate Transportation Committee to move on it expeditiously. It’s just a matter of the sponsor, Sen. John Kuhl, sending a message to the committee that he would like it reported out. His office is doing that. We have great hopes of seeing this bill passed into law and signed by the Governor.
  3. S-82 and A-2708. This bill would create motorcycle safety advisory councils in each of the 12 D.O.T. regions in the state. They would report on road conditions hazardous to motorcycling and D.O.T. would then take action to remediate those conditions. There isn’t much buzz on this bill. It is in our package and I talk about it with legislative staff during our lobbying efforts, but right now, there seems to be little enthusiasm for it. We’ll see. The 800 number that should be coming shortly to report such conditions might obviate the need for this legislation.
  4. S-4922 and A-8781 This is the bill that would restore the ATV Trails and Maintenance Fund. There has been monumental opposition to the bill from the so-called environmental groups(Sierra Club, Adirondack Council, EPL), but the Motorcycle Industry Council(MIC) is financing its own lobbying effort with a hard working guy from the Bennett firm, Mike Murphy. He’s been doing a great job and has the lead on this bill. We simply support the bill in our lobbying efforts and tell legislative staff it’s a priority issue with us. It’ll be tough to get something through because the anti-access folks(Adirondack Council, mostly) have a lot of clout in the Governor’s office. That’s not to say that something good couldn’t happen.
  5. Toll issues. Here’s some good news or at least optimistic news. A good friend of ours at a State agency had lunch with the Operations Director of the Thruway Authority, Chuck Lattuca. As you know, when the governor vetoed our legislation that passed that would have mandated a lower toll on the New York State Thruway he, at the same time, urged the agency to make it happen administratively because, as he put it, the reasons we gave were "compelling". Well, apparently the word has come down that the Governor wants to see it happen. Lattuca has the responsibility of coming up with a plan. It was suggested to him that he meet with me and others I would choose to talk over this situation. The authority’s worry is that motorcyclists would take a bike E-Z pass with a lower toll and use it in their cars…in other words, fraud.

    I called Lattuca’s office today to set up that meeting and am waiting for a callback. I think we can come up with some ideas for him. The easiest out to get the lower toll for us would be for motorcyclists to simply have to use the "cash" lane. No chance for fraud there. However, we’d like to come up with an idea that would include motorcyclists in the EZ pass system. There simply has to be a solution to the possible "fraud" potential. Anyone with a really good idea on this for EZ pass, please pass it on to me either by phone at (518) 399-7406 or my e-mail at lschwartz@webramp.net.

    Since I hope to be setting up this meeting very soon, there is not a lot of time for ideas, so get them to me as soon as you can. Incidentally, I am asking every legislator we see and we will see them all during the session, to write a letter to the Thruway Authority, asking them to lower the toll, administratively.

  6. On the issue of placing the inspection sticker legally in a place

Other than the left front fork. Phil Risley of DMV, a motorcyclist and the guy in charge of those regulations is in Daytona at this time, but he is working on it. I can’t tell you more than that right now. Maybe next month, when I get an update from Phil.

OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators wants $100-million from Congress to set up a first ever national I-D system, complete with a centralized computer database to keep tabs on all 270 million Americans and biometric identifiers on the cards standardized across all states. Yessirree, big brother lives folks and he wants to control your life. You better start writing your congressmen and senators.

Remember the effort by NHTSA to control what you wear when you ride. Because of efforts by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and the AMA, powerful congressmen affiliated with the so-called "TREAD" act are on our side on this. Kudos to MRF and AMA and all of you who wrote your congressmen on this issue. It’s not settled yet, but at least there’s some good news which could lead to eliminating that language from the act.

AMA QUICK RESPONSE

Everyone: AMA has a New York "Action Alert" set up under the"Protecting Your Right to Ride>StateWatch" page of www.AMADirectlink.com You just type in your zip code in the "Take Action Now" box and an electronic message of support or opposition for a bill is zipped off to your state senator or assemblyman/woman. Hey..here’s a really easy way to get a message off to your state or federal legislator on any issue or bill. USE IT! Of course, it’s still better to handwrite a note, if you have the time, but if not, then use the message service.

And finally, this from AMA’s News and Notes for the Politically Motivated motorcyclist: Finnish motorcyclist Anssi Vanjoki was hit with what’s probably the world’s biggest speeding fine. He paid the equivalent of almost $104,000 for doing 75 kph (46 mph) in a 50 kph(31 mph) zone. In Finland, fines are means tested. Translated, it means he makes a lot of money as a senior Nokia executive, so his fine was commensurate with what he makes. How do ya like those apples? Glad you don’t live in Finland and make a decent living?

That’s it for now. Until the next time, ride free, but ride safe!

 

 

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