You are going to be hearing this a lot over the next 60 days…
Are you registered to vote at your current
address?
If not, and you need assistance. please contact
me and I will help you. We need all hands-on
deck to vote this election cycle. I am not
telling you WHO to vote for, just vote. The
down ticket races (city and county, school
board, etc.) are some of the most important. Why?
SCHOOL BOARD – they are the ones who
make the decision to allow our Motorcycle
Awareness Program (MAP) to be taught in
the schools.
CITY COUNCIL/MAYOR – they can
approve safety and awareness campaigns in
their city. Notice the “Look out for motorcycles” signs? That’s a city thing.
Do you see how important it is to elect people who will support us? I hope so.
So…. Are you registered to vote at your current address?
2021 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
We are almost done with the language for all
of our bills for next session and with the election getting clearer, we have started discussing possible sponsoring several bills with
legislators.
ELECTION CYCLE
Our Vote Like a Motorcyclist Voter Guide
should be completed by September 1st. We
are digging a little deeper this election cycle
and will include all county and city races as
well as Federal, State and Legislative races.
This way you can compare up and down the
ballot. An educated voter is a good voter.
Are you registered to vote at your current address? If not, please contact me and I will help you.
ABATE VOICES HEARD LOUD AND
CLEAR
On August 3rd, the morning DJ from Tucson
radio station KLPX made several disparaging
remarks about “bikers” that were very stereotypical of how uninformed people look at
motorcyclists. ABATE members in our
Southern Arizona chapter contacted our
Legislative Director who put out a call to
action to contact the radio station and he
penned an email to the station management
immediately demanding a retraction and apology.
In less than 12 hours, the radio station and the
morning DJ issued an on-air apology to the
motorcycle community. And going as far as
keeping the DJ off the air on Aug 4th to
“reflect” on what he said.
That’s how it’s done. And it couldn’t be done
without a joint effort from all members! So
for those who sent emails from around the
state, thank you.
FROM THE MRF
AUGUST IN D.C.
The annual month-long August Congressional
Recess is about to begin. While both chambers are scheduled to adjourn this week, the
ongoing debate surrounding another COVID
relief bill has put the schedule in flux.
White House and Congressional leaders are
negotiating the extension of supplemental
unemployment funds, stimulus checks for
more Americans and other policies surrounding the economy.
Many of the funds for these programs
expired on July 31st , forcing Congress to
act quickly if they choose to extend or
modify the policies. It is unlikely that
Congress will adjourn without acting in
some way, so a deal will likely be
reached sometime in August.
THE CLOCK IS TICKING….
Speaking of deadlines, Congress has until
September 30th to pass a highway reauthorization bill. As you may remember,
the House passed their version of the bill
in June, while the Senate has yet to introduce its version.
A Republican controlled Senate version
of a bill will likely be dramatically different than the Democratic controlled House
version. If that happens, the two chambers go to a “conference committee.”
Leaders from each chamber meet to reconcile the two bills and compromise on
what language will be included in a final bill.
While anything can happen during a conference committee, having similar language in both the House and Senate versions goes a long way to making it to the
final compromise bill. That’s why we will
continue to press the Senate to include
similar motorcycle priorities in their bill
to those that appear in the House’s version.
Be good to one another!
Mike InfanzonLegislative Director
