CMT/ABATE Legislative Blog

LEGISLATIVE RAMBLINGS

Issue # 10                                                                                                   November, 2010

 Wow!! The elections are now in the past.  Many people have voiced their opinion and this is evident.  Many incumbent politicians are no longer in office across this nation.  There will be many more new faces in the capital.  In the state of Tennessee there has also been many changes.  Bill Haslem is now Tennessee’s new governor, which puts a republican in charge of the state.  I would like to congratulate Governor Elect Haslem on his bid for election and will look forward to working with him this coming year.

There have been many other changes in the capital.  The democrats have lost 14 seats to the republicans.  The republicans now have 64 seats, with the democrats now holding 34 seats, and one independent.  For the first time, since I started going to Nashville and lobbying, we will have a republican speaker of the house.  Who that will be is still undecided but the two main Representatives vying for the position is Rep. Beth Harwell and Rep. Glen Casada.  Rep. Glen Casada has worked with us closely and even attended our legislative retreat this year.  I will look forward to working with a republican speaker of the house next year.

Last month I wrote about being involved and being an informed voter.  While at the legislative retreat this year someone brought up the issue of motorcycle parking in downtown parking spaces.  So I decided to get involved.  I wrote an email to a person on the city staff and ask the simple question, “Is more than one motorcycle allowed to park in a metered parking space.”  After about two days, I was told through communications with the traffic engineer that the law didn’t address the issue.  In fact the current law for the city of Chattanooga only says “vehicle”.  Even the traffic engineer didn’t think that motorcycles were ever considered when the law was written.  So, I then called my City Council member, Jack Benson and talked with him about the issue.  I ask council member Jack Benson what was the best way to get this issue addressed.  He told me that I should bring it to the city council.  The last thing on the agenda for the city council is to allow any citizens to speak for up to 3 minutes about an issue.  I wrote a short speech and went to the city council meeting on October 26^th.  Not only will I never forget that night because I was a little nervous that was the same night we had a tornado in town.  Here is the last sentence of my speech. “In conclusion I respectfully request that the City Council Members change this antiquated law to allow for more than one motorcycle to park legally in a given parking spot.”  I’m now told that the City of Chattanooga is working to amend the current law to allow for more than one motorcycle to park in a parking spot legally.  My point is it doesn’t take one to do much to be involved.  What does your city say about parking motorcycles?  Do they even allow more than one to a space?  Do you know?  Take the time to make the little changes and work with your elected officials.  As one elected official once said, “you have to take the baby steps first…”  Once you take the little steps and work on a relationship with your elected official then you can start taking on bigger steps.  And one day you just might get it all accomplished.  Like say “Freedom of Choice” in the state of Tennessee.

In the last weeks of January, 2011 the new legislative session will start in Tennessee.  CMT/ABATE will plan on filing two main bills next year and these will be a reciprocal bill and a freedom of choice bill.  Have you talked with elected officials?  New or old they will be working on state laws that will affect you.  So get with it and take the time to communicate with your elected official.  I’m looking forward to working with the new faces in Nashville but I need your help to talk to them yourself.

So remember I can’t do it by myself.  It takes everyone to get involved.

Or you can watch your rights fade away.

 Scott McColpin

State Legislative Director

legislative@cmtabate.com

www.cmtabate.com

LEGISLATIVE RAMBLINGS

Issue # 9                                                                                                     October, 2010

I think with the upcoming November elections on the short horizon I must ask how involved are YOU.  Are you registered to vote?  Have you talked to the candidates to find out how they feel about your concerns?  Do you know whom you are going to vote for?

There are many different ways you can get involved and become an informed voter.  The real question is do you take the time to become informed.  YES, YOU SHOULD.  The people that you vote for in this upcoming election will be deciding new laws on your behalf.  Do you trust them?  If you answered anything other than emphatically yes, then you should be involved.  You can call or email your local county election commission.  Ask them for the names & contact information of the qualified candidates.  Its public record and they will be more than happy to give you that information.  You can write, call, email the candidates and address your concerns about issues that are important to you.  If you take this short time to do this, then you have just become an informed voter.  I know what you are thinking that it won’t make a difference.  That’s where you are wrong.  Your candidate might not get elected but they will remember talking to you.  In the state of Tennessee any candidate can win by one vote.  So when you call again, and you should, they will remember issues that are important to you.  Remember as a friend of mind once told me, “He may not like what I’m saying, but he is my elected official and he has to listen to me.”  Please remember to be polite, don’t use bad language or get rude. 

Can bikers shape an election?  You bet.  As of December 7, 2009 there were a total of 316,825 Class M driver licenses in the state of Tennessee.  Imagine what that many people could do to any election.  When you get a chance look at the voter turnout numbers in your county.  The county election commission maintains records of voter turnout and election results.  When you get a chance ask for a copy and read it over.  Especially note the percentage of voter turnout in a given district.  Election day turnouts are usually low.  Is this because we have just given up and don’t want to take the time?  If you say yes your just a guilty.  Whether you like it or not that candidate is still running.  If he wins he will still be deciding issues that affect YOU.  So I ask, did you vote?

 Last month I sent an email to my county clerks office (Hamilton County, Chattanooga, Tennessee).  I ask for the number of registered motorcycles for 2009 in my county.  Within a couple of hours I received a response from the title & statistics specialist.  There were 10,043 registered motorcycles in Hamilton County for the year of 2009.  Do you know how many bikers are in your county?  Just a bit of information that was very easy to find out.  It didn’t take any effort to get this information.  My point is it doesn’t take much effort to get involved.

On October 1^st CMT/ABATE had a very productive Legislative Retreat.  This retreat was an effort to look at upcoming laws that affect our state.  Did your state have a legislative retreat and did you go?  We discussed several issues and topics that are foremost in the motorcycle community.  I would like to thank all those that attended and would like to send a special thank you to State House of Representative Glen Casada for attending.  Rep. Casada answered questions and talked to us about how to build a relationship with your elected official.

 So remember I can’t do it by myself.  It takes everyone to get involved.

Or you can watch your rights fade away.

 Scott McColpin

State Legislative Director

(423) 432-2708

legislative@cmtabate.com

www.cmtabate.com

LEGISLATIVE RAMBLINGS

Issue # 8                                                                                                     September, 2010

Last month I briefly touched on reciprocity.  I would again like to continue a short report on the same subject.  Reciprocity in its basic format according to Webster is: “a mutual exchange of privileges: a recognition by one of two countries or institutions of the validity of licenses or privileges granted by the other.”

 So if I have only one license plate in Tennessee, and then drive in Wisconsin can I get a ticket?  Wisconsin law states that you must have two plates on your vehicle, the second one being on the front bumper.  Will I then get a ticket?  Probably not, but can I?  Yes.  Can I fight this ticket in court?  Yes.  And I will win.  A driver of a vehicle is not required to adhere to these types of laws for every state.

 BUT, and hear comes the big kicker.

 I spoke with an attorney on this issue.  Basically I was told that reciprocity holds true as long as it’s not considered a safety issue.  That really narrows it down, don’t you think.  What constitutes safety, when involved with reciprocity?  Does wearing a motorcycle helmet constitute safety?  YES it does.  That is why I’m required to wear a motorcycle helmet in the state of Tennessee no matter what state I hold a valid drivers license from.

That’s also the reason I’m allowed to choose if I want to wear a helmet when riding in states like Florida or South Carolina.  It doesn’t make a difference what state I hold a driver license from.

 Take Two:  What about child safety seats.  The answer is Yes.  When driving a vehicle and carrying a child, I MUST conform to that’s particular states law.  So be forewarned, when going on vacation, you are supposed to check with each state you travel through and conform to that states particular child safety law.  So say I drive from Tennessee to Florida.  I MUST know what Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida require when it comes to child safety seats.  Do most people do this?  I would say NO.

 So I ask where do we draw the line when it comes to reciprocity.  Are we going to become like an Eastern Europe country and you have to clear the customs at each border.  This is America where we don’t have to go through a checkpoint on each state line.  BUT be careful, there already exists an invisible checkpoint.  You pass it when you see the sign that usually reads “Welcome to the Great State of **********.”  Most bikers are already aware of this invisible checkpoint.  When we cross into a certain state WE decided whether to wear or not to wear a helmet while riding (if of course it’s allowed in that state).

 So we can all get involved and do something about this invisible checkpoint, or we can carry on as usual.  Of course on day you might say something when you have to go through a checkpoint to cross into say Florida.  If we ever get that far then I say the government whether federal or state has gone to far.  But do you need to wait until it gets to that point?  My point is that everyone needs to get involved NOW.  Get involved with informed voting and keeping in touch with your elected officials on ALL levels.

 I received word today from my county clerk that there were 10,043 motorcycle registrations in this county for the year of 2009 (Hamilton County, Chattanooga, Tennessee).  Think what 10,043 bikers could do for most voting races if they banded together for a common cause.  These registrations were on the road motorcycles that required a motorcycle tag.  This doesn’t even include the off road motorcycles.  If the NRA can get things done when their members want, why can’t we do the same?  So you need to belong to an ABATE organization and get involved if you already don’t.  Then and only then, can we become a group that the politicians will have no choice but to listen to.

 So remember I can’t do it by myself.  It takes everyone to get involved.

Or you can watch your rights fade away.

Scott McColpin

State Legislative Director

(423) 432-2708

legislative@cmtabate.com

www.cmtabate.com

Scott McColpin
CMT/ABATE
State Legislative Director
Lifetime Member
Tennessee Valley CMT/ABATE
1421 Stratman Circle
Chattanooga,  TN   37421
423-432-2708
legislative@cmtabate.com
www.cmtabate.com

The reciprocal helmet bill would have allowed motorcyclists from  other states to ride helmet-free in Tennessee, if their home states allowed them to do so.  That bill is no longer on the calendar, which means it is not being actively worked.  There were several issues with the bill, but the biggest one was a note from Governor Bredesen:

After having carefully reviewed your bill, *SB2562/HB2648, we are unable to support it. We understand that this is an important issue to you and appreciate your efforts on this legislation.

However, we respectfully disagree with the intent of this proposal.  A representative from Governor Bredesens’s office will contact you shortly to discuss this matter further.  In the meantime, please consider taking no further action on *SB2562/HB2648.

LEGISLATIVE RAMBLINGS – Issue #2

February, 2010

Welcome to the last half of the 106^th General Assembly.  I spent all day in Nashville just this last Wednesday (Jan. 27^th) and want to communicate my efforts on our progress.

The three bills that CMT/ABATE is working on this year are listed below.

 HB2551(Dean)/SB2649(Burchett):

This bill will allow motorcycles to be added to the lemon law regarding warranty protection.  I think this is going to be a ground breaking legislative bill for the state of Tennessee and will hopefully set a new precedent in other states.  We have already obtained 8 co-sponsors for this piece of legislation.  The co-sponsors are Todd, Harmon, Casada, Brooks K., Matheny, Tidwell, Hensley and McCormick.

 HB2633(Deberry J)/SB2787(Burchett):

This bill will allow motorcycles to display their tags vertically instead of the traditional horizontal configuration.  Virginia and Florida have already passed similar legislation in regard to vertical tags.  We currently don’t have any other co-sponsors to this bill.  So the phone calls need to get fired up.  Get your state representative on board and ask if he/she will co-sponsor this legislation.  There has already been a negative fiscal note attached to this bill.  If you read the note it says that the state stands to lose $1,100 for not being able to write such tickets.  When does the state of Tennessee fund its budget by issuing citations to its citizens?  Police departments across this state are not supposed to issue tickets to fund their agenda; they are supposed to issue them for the safety of its citizens.  This fiscal note is a direct attack against motorcyclists across this state.  I urge every member to call and voice their opinion on this issue.

 HB2648(Tidwell)/SB2562(Southerland):

This bill will allow motorcyclists from states that do not require helmets to enjoy that freedom while riding in this state.  We are currently working hard on this legislation and have already attracted GREAT opposition.  There currently is no fiscal note attached to this bill but I expect one shortly.

 Not only does each member of CMT/ABATE need to call and thank these representatives you need to get your elected official on board.

Now is the time to step up and call your officials.  Or watch your rights get trampled into the ground once again.  As a friend of mine says get off your butt and do something about it, before it’s gone.

I’m still keeping and eye on HB0036 by Rep. G. Hardaway.  This bill will remove the exemptions that are in the current law for helmeted All Terrain Vehicles.  CMT/ABATE is opposed to this bill because of the safety issue in requiring mandatory helmet use and on private property.  There has been no new action on this bill but we must still be vigilant and keep our eyes open.

February 24^th (Wednesday), is our Legislative Day in Nashville.  Please try to come and lets see how many leather clad motorcyclists we can get on the hill.  The bills we are running this year are just that–bills.  Do you want to see the law change in the state of Tennessee?  Then please take the time to come to Nashville on the 24^th and be there by 9:00 am CST. Room 112, War Memorial Building.

So remember I can’t do it by myself.  It takes everyone to get involved.

Or you can watch your rights fade away.

Scott McColpin,State Legislative Director
(423) 432-2708
legislative@cmtabate.com
www.cmtabate.com