President's Report

Greetings to all my fellow Freedom Fighters, supporters of motorcycle rights and ABATE members!

As I sit down to write this monthly report I look back through my notes and see everything that happened this past month. Our Legislative Director Mike Infanzon has been working hard on all the legislation that has anything to do with motorcyclists.

Mike Infanzon is in Washington D.C. to attend the Annual Michael “Boz” Kerr Biker’s Inside the Beltway.

This annual event is put on by our friends at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF). This event is a way for motorcycle rights activists to gather and lobby the members of Congress. Mike informed me that he had meetings set with every single member of the Arizona delegation. This is amazing and a reflection of how hard he is working for all motorcyclists in Arizona. We will continue to contact all the members of Congress that represent Arizona by telephone, email and also contacting their local offices here in Arizona. Mike will update everyone on the results of his whirlwind trip to our Capital when he returns. Watch for his updates in the Masterlink next month.

This past month of May was also Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month. I know many of our cities and towns have issued proclamations designating May as Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month as well as the State. I hope that all of our chapters have partaken in various events to promote motorcycle safety around our state. Thank you to everyone for all you do to make Arizona safe for ALL motorcyclists.

I had the privilege of attending the Arizona Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Foundation’s (AMSAF) fund raising dinner “Riding for the Long Haul”! They are actively working on educating the public on safety and awareness to help reduce crashes and fatalities in Arizona. The offer financial assistance for motorcycle training, the purchasing of helmets and now they have added assistance for Accident Scene Management classes, both the basic class and the advanced class. For more information go to www.AMSAF.org.

I have been trying to attend all of the monthly ACMC meetings when possible. I made the ride up to Phoenix the last weekend in April to attend the Arizona Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (ACMC) monthly meeting. For those who may not know ABATE of Arizona is a Charter member of the ACMC. The ACMC meets monthly and allows MCs from around the state to get together and discuss various topics that affect the motorcycling community and the motorcycle clubs in particular. ABATE works with the ACMC on legislative issues and other issues that come to light. The meetings are moved to different locations throughout the state every month to allow more clubs to attend.

As always ABATE and the Too Broke committee is in need of volunteers to help with this event. This is a great way to support our organization and to meet others from around the state who are also volunteering. Please consider stepping up and volunteering at Too Broke for Sturgis! I look forward to seeing many of our members up at the new location At the Winslow Rodeo Grounds. Remember that the reason more of your fellow motorcyclists are not members of ABATE of Arizona is because they have never been asked to join! If every ABATE member recruited just one new member every year our numbers would double every year and we would be a force to be reckoned with. So ask every rider you meet if they are a member, if they are not ask them to come to a meeting and learn who we are and what we stand for. ASK THEM TO JOIN! The time to organize and fight for your freedoms is BEFORE they are all gone!

Jim Butsback
State President
ABATE of Arizona