11-10-2003

03LR11 - November 10, 2003

MRF LEADERS' REPORT
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
P.O. Box 1808
Washington, DC 20013-1808
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
wyld@mrf.org (e-mail)
http://www.mrf.org (website)

#03LR11 - THE LEADERS' REPORT - Ride With The LeadersTM - November 10, 2003

TO: The Leaders of the American Motorcyclists' Rights Movement

FROM: Tom Wyld, VP-Government Relations, Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF)

CALL YOUR SENATOR - AGAIN! If you ride a motorcycle, drop a dime (okay, a dollar) and CALL BOTH YOUR U.S. SENATORS. If you are a State Motorcyclists' Rights Organization (SMRO), please FAX your U.S. Senators. (Go to www.senate.gov for their numbers, or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.)

HERE'S THE APPEAL: Urge YOUR SENATORS to telephone ONE OF THESE TWO SENATORS: Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) or Jim Jeffords (I-Vermont). They lead the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee. That Committee decides, up or down, on Wednesday, November 12, whether we make motorcycle safety history. Senators must go into that session having heard from YOUR U.S. Senators!

HERE'S THE MESSAGE: Ask YOUR Senators to SIGNAL THEIR SUPPORT for the joint MRF - SMRO agenda for reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21)!

KUDOS. Commendations to every SMRO that has weighed in on this TEA effort in the Senate. I am particularly gratified that the following SMROs have done so very much in working with their Senators who serve on the Committee and have considerable influence on what will happen on Wednesday, November 12: ABATE of Oklahoma, ABATE of Alaska, Freedom of Road Riders (Missouri), Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association, ABATE of New York, Motorcyclists for Nevada and United Motorcyclists of Vermont. ABATE of Oregon and ABATE of Iowa have played an instrumental role as well, urging U.S. Reps. Pete DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Lennie Boswell (D-Iowa) to telephone their counterparts on the committee. Well done to all!

THE MONEY ISSUE. The difficulty at present surrounds our "motorcycle safety incentive grant" - $100,000 to any state that maintains its rider training/motorist awareness commitment from one year to the next during the life of TEA (through 2009). (See www.mrf.org and click on "NHTSA/TEA.") We have learned that this element of our joint MRF-SMRO agenda enjoys solid support by many Senators on the committee. Some, however, are critical, simply because it may involve "new" money. JUST EMPHASIZE THIS: First, training works. Second, states are cutting. Third, fatalities have risen for five straight years. Fourth, it is high time to reverse this tragic trend!

NO NEW TAX ON HOUSE BILL? When the next issue of MRF REPORTS finds its way to your door, you will see an article by U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman, on the issue of indexing the gas tax to inflation which would boost the current 18.4 cents-a-gallon tax by about 8 cents over 6 years. Word on the Hill is that the House T&I TEA bill may include the spending (up to $300 billion for road-related programs), but without the gas tax. The House bill is said to be more than the Bush Administration bill ($201 billion for surface transportation) and the Senate version (a draft version calls for $255 billion for surface programs).

PUSHING SAFETY IN THE PRESS. An influential news organization in Washington, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), called MRF for our reaction to the "Kentucky/Louisiana study." In this interview, we emphasized the personal liberty issue and also drew attention to our TEA-21 effort. BNA wrote, "The MRF is hoping to launch the first-ever motorcycle incentive safety grant program as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). He said that the need for a grant program has arisen as states have cut programs that educate motorcyclists and drivers of passenger vehicles to drive safely and be aware of motorcycles on the road."

EPA RULE STILL "UNDER REVIEW." While the Administration is still reviewing the EPA rule, one friendly Member of Congress has written to newly appointed EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt at MRF's urging. The Member's letter to Mr. Leavitt raised the issue of the agency excluding independent shops from the process designed to protect small businesses. Because this is a pending rule, Mr. Leavitt may be precluded from responding specifically. Nevertheless, raising the issue was an important step in sensitizing the new Administrator to the stakes involved. When might the proposed rule on street bikes be finalized? Any day now . . .

Yours for the right to ride, and your friend,

Tom

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(c)All Information contained in this report is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists' rights organization headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists' rights organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early 1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause of rider safety and rider freedom.

The MRF proudly claims state motorcyclists' rights organizations and the very founders of the American riders' rights movement among its leading members. The MRF is involved in federal and state legislation and regulations, motorcycling safety education, training, and public awareness. The MRF provides members and state motorcyclists' rights organizations with direction and information, and sponsors annual regional and national educational seminars for motorcyclists' rights activists, as well as publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, THE MRF REPORTS.


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