After years of battle the Missouri legislature has finall passed and sent to the governor a helmet modification Bill. The Bill will allow those over the age of 21 to choose whether to wear a helmet.
Three Cheers For Freedom of The Road Riders.
Sputnik
With 22 days left to get your ballots turned into the state office we have votes for a District Advisor in District 20 and District 24. We have votes for one State Chairman thus far. Get around to placing your vote. It has never been easier.
When you finish reading this simply click on Reply, vote for a chairman and vote for a District Advisor. THEN HIT SEND. Now you got it.
HCR 50 came out of House State Affairs Committee by a vote of 10-2 with I present but not voting. 74 Representatives have signed onto HCR 50, only three of these are Democrats. The Bill is designed to force the federal government to recognize and live by the tenth amendment to the constitution. I plan to begin asking questions why Democrats don’t support states rights. You might want to do the same.
I realize this is what is known as a hard vote but it definitely doesn’t rank on a level with Immigration and Abortion. How can anyone in public office not respect the constitution? I want to know.
HB 4449 came out of committee as amended. It now says simply you can not give a kid under five years old a ride on your bike. No mention of foot pegs. I was told I could probably pull it back but I don’t have the time or desire to mess with it.
SB 1967 the Highway Safety Bill has been sent to Da’Lady, Rep. Chavez to Sponsor in the House. Rep Hopson and Rep. Fred Brown are going to Co-sponsor. I will talk to Rep. Pitts and Rep Hodge first thing in the morning to round out the five with three Dems and two Repubs.
Terri, Stephanie and Tamra spent all day today passing out the papers on the Bill and explaining it to all 150 Representatives. What a deal. It would have taken me three days to do that and I would then have to begin talking up HB 1569. Alittle help goes a long way.
HB 1569, the Equal Access has officially been recommended for the Local & Consent today. Since our Sponsor is Chair of that committee this Bill should hit the House Floor Soon. I went around talking to the Reps about it today to get them ready.
HB 506 the Lane Splitting Bill is still sitting and hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing as of this minute.
SB 298 and HB 169, identical Road Block Bills are both still sitting stagnant. Hopefully they will both die a merciless death. Just over three weeks to go in this session.
After finishing up my rounds I went down to the Elections Committee Room and signed up to speak on HB 4653 the Bill that would require that Texas revert to Paper Ballots in time for the Primary Election next year. This Bill is actually a work of art. It is crafted in such a way that the vote would be on paper ballot and then actually be counted and tallied right there at the Precinct. A camera would film the entire process and the public would be allowed to quietly watch the proceedings. No question would you get the correct totals. By the time the last box arrived at the courthouse the winners would be known for that county.
Then I ran (rather walked slowly) and signed on to speak on HB 1863. This was another great Bill that we just couldn’t pass up having our say on. It says plainly that any weapons, weapon parts or accessories and ammo manufactured in Texas, for sale in Texas, could not be regulated by the Federal Government. A short simple statement but one that speaks loud. It is of course a State’s Rights issue.
The constitution clearly states the federal government shall regulate interstate commerce but intrastate commerce will be regulated by the individual state.
They stayed on the Floor late and we finally got started in Elections about 6:45. Representative Bonnen came down into the audience and let me know the chairman was going to call up HB 4653 pretty quickly and let me go ahead and testify as I was running short on oxygen. (I know to take my charger cable from now on as it will only get later.) True to his word he pulled it up and got me out of there pretty rapidly. I still had to go back over to Public Safety and wait to speak on that one.
The entire committee treated me very nicely as Chairman Merritt introduced me as the only one with one name since Elvis left the room.
Both bills received very good response from the committees. I would say that of the two the paper ballot Bill will have the most trouble with full passage but I believe they will both pass committee.
That’s it for this round. A little over three weeks to go so it will explode down there beginning next week. Now click on Reply and cast your votes. It will really take very little effort I promise.
Ride Safe – Ride Sober
Sputnik
State Chair/TMRA 2
Just a quick note to say thank you to our El Paso Chapter for the $200 donation and Thanks to the 1st Brazoria Chapter for their $200 donation to state.
SB 1967 the Highway Safety Bill has passed the Senate and been sent to the House for consideration.
HB 1569 the Equal Access Bill has come out of committee and will be sent to Local & Consent Calendars today.
Of tghe three issues we have addressed this session all have received favorable consideration thus far. Keep your fingers crossed. Got to get back down to the capitol now. It’s a never ending process.
Sputnik
State Chair/TMRA 2
Texas Motorcycle Rights Association
512-971-6777 – 275 Old Lexington Rd. Elgin, Texas 78621 www.tmra2.org
ONLY AS IMPORTANT AS YOU FEEL IT IS
I don’t know what it takes to get any interest or support out there in motorcycle land but I have a couple of thank you’s to send out to begin this note.
We had a hearing on our Equal Access Bill on Monday. We sent out a request for support and passed the word along to others. I say thank you to Terri Williams, Stephanie Parks and Britney Parks our TMRA 2 “Legislative Task Force” Members and Gypsy Mud Dauber. Stephanie, Mud Dauber and I testified in favor and the Sponsor, Rep. Thompson gave us one hell of a build up as upstanding citizens. I must say I was somewhat embarrassed by the lack of support we showed our sponsor.
Nonetheless it went well. It will come out of committee and be sent to Local & Consent of which our Sponsor is Chair. They asked today that you contact those Representatives not on the committee and ask for their yes vote on the Bill when it gets to the Floor. Now is the time to get that done.
Returned to the office and had this notice:
THANKS TO THE AMIGOS M/C FOR THEIR CONTINUING SUPPORTER MEMBERSHIP ANNUALLY. THANKS TWICE OVER FOR INCREASING THAT SUPPORT FROM A GOLD SUPPORTER MEMBER TO PLATINUM!!!When they can’t be there they help cover the expenses to have it done.
Next up is SB 1967 as amended, “we forgot to put in that $5 of our license fee goes into the Rider Education Fund”. I am happy to announce that the effort put out has brought results. We learned today that HB 1967 will be on the Floor for a vote of the Full Senate on Thursday 23rd. I will be sitting in the Gallery to watch the vote and it would be nice to have some company. How well I remember the other two times we had a vote like this. Especially the one that went right down to the wire at midnight. That crowd was the kind that memories are mad of and the celebration was unreal.
HB 4449 was heard today. That one says you can’t ride any child up to five years of age on a motorcycle and that any child must have their feet on the foot pegs. Several people testified in favor of that Bill and I alone testified against it. If you are interested in this Bill in any way let the Representatives hear from you on this one as well. Remember only talk on one issue (Bill) on each email, letter or phone call.
We ended up the day with HB 11 and HB 13 in a committee hearing. HB 11 repeals the authority for TxDOT to have any more dealings along the lines of the Trans Texas Corridor and HB 13 sets very strong guidelines under which a freeway can be turned into a toll road making it all but impossible to do. Both are fantastic Bills by Rep Leibowitz. About 30 people testified in favor of the Bill then Chairman Pickett said we have a pile of these not wishing to testify. Not one person opposed those Bills.
It was worth the long day.
To send an Email the address is:
Senate firstnamelastname@senate.state.tx.us
House firstnamelastname@state.tx.us
That’s it for this round.
Ride Free – Ride Sober
Sputnik
State Chair/tmra2
Texas Motorcycle Rights Association
512-971-6777 – 275 Old Lexington Rd. Elgin, Texas 78621 www.tmra2.org
PRIORITY – ACT ON THIS NOW
We met with Senator Carona to ask why SB 1967 wasn’t out of committee yet. He informed us he had planned to bring it out on the 8th but one Bill took more time than anticipated and they had to leave some Bills hanging. He assured us it would come out on the 15th. We have met with almost every senator concerning the Bill and it would be very helpful if you would contact your senator and ask for their support when the Bill comes to the Floor. The more phone calls they get the better our chance for passage..
US House passed HR 1253, sponsored by Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) and cosponsored by Bart Stupak(D-MI), which would require that people signing up for a health plan receive in writing an explanation of treatment limits or non-covered conditions, along with other plan restrictions, “in a form that is easily understandable.” The bill passed with overwhelming support with the final vote coming in at 422-3.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Senate.
President Barack Obama said nominated the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Charles Hurley as the next administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Hurley is the number one architect for the Crusade to establish Road Blocks by state legislatures.
Looks like rough riding for us if Hurley is approved. Actually nearly every person appointed by President Obama appears to mean rough roads ahead for all Americans.
Speaking of Road Block Bills SB 298 has still not received it’s first reading in the House and been sent to committee yet. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
And finally the push is on to replace the dollar as the common trade currency due to it’s devaluation. The currency of choice appears to be the little known SDR (Special Drawing Right) under the control of the IMF ((International Monetary Fund). This is a combination of several currencies which up until recently had only about $31 billion in reserves.
At the recent G-20 meeting it was voted to expand the reserves to $250 billion. President Obama voted Aye.
While this may seem like a slap in the face to many it could be a good thing for the country. My question is why wasn’t this reported on the news?
April 2009
TMRA2 Senate District 22 Advisor’s report
by Greg Bodovsky
The Heart of Texas Chapter has not had their meeting for April yet. I hope to see a good crowd though, and if the March meeting was any indication, I’m sure it will be well attended. It’s always on the 2nd Sunday at 1pm at Jim’s Cycle Shop in Axtell.
The Lake Granbury Liberty Riders Chapter had a meeting in March, which I was unable to attend, so I don’t have a report on it. The meetings are scheduled for the 4th Wednesday of the month at the VFW in Granbury. I am glad to see this Chapter coming back to life, and all area riders are urged to attend.
I continue to forward reports from the State Office to my email list. If you are not receiving anything, please send me an email, and I’ll update my list.
If anyone would like to help out, anywhere in the District, or has any questions, let me know.
My email is txhdryder@att.net and my phone is 254.582.9291, so contact me with any questions or comments that you might have.
Ride Safe & Ride Free (while U steelcan)!
Greg
BBQ with the Bikers
It was a beautiful day for the event. Although not many stayed outside, those that did seemed to enjoy it. There was enough food for everyone.
Just a couple of us had the vegetarian plate at the end, but all the invitees got fed. The event was very cordial, I saw smiling faces whenever the staff came by the desk.
I’m sure Texas ABATE put us all in a positive light; let’s hope it turns into positive movement for the bills we support.
Need your Letters
We have more bills out there now with action items. Please write you Senators and Representatives in support of our bills and against the bills we want stopped.
SB1967
We had a really good hearing on SB1967 Wednesday. Paul and I gave oral testimony while Terri attended and turned in cards in favor of. Woody also sent a letter of support from El Paso and Terri made the necessary copies and placed it into written testimony.
One lady asked for an amendment stating children couldn’t ride unless they could reach the foot pegs. Chairman Carona told her he had given us his word that if we came up with something we could all agree on, it would go to the Floor unchanged and he was not going back on his word. He also thanked us for coming up with a good Bill.
Without question this Bill will come out of committee when they next vote on Bills.
Sputnik
Bills out there right Now….
Supported
HB 759 – Passed House committee, waiting to go to the floor
Subject: Relating to the creation of a hotline to report suspected incidents of impaired driving or dangerous driving
HB 1569 – Filed – Hopefully a public hearing soon.
Subject: Relating to equal access to places of public accommodation
SB 374 – Passed Senate now in house committee.
Subject: Relating to the power of a county to enforce compliance with speed limits by an automated traffic control system (Prevents cities or counties from putting up automatic speed traps)
SB 736 – in Senate committee.
Subject: Relating to the funds consolidation process and the use of state revenue dedicated by law for a particular purpose (rededicating all funds to their specific purpose instead of the general fund)
SB 737 – in Senate committee.
Subject: Relating to conducting a study to improve transparency in the state’s budgeting process and electronic access to information about the state budget (add budget to website so everyone can see it)
SB 1967 – public hearing on 4/1, still in committee.
Subject: Relating to the safe operation of motorcycles and other vehicles in this state; providing penalties
Comment: This bill contains several elements failure to yield, cleanup of helmet law, and rider education program.
Against
HB 169 – Filed – in committee
Subject: Relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Public Safety and certain local law enforcement agencies to establish a checkpoint on a highway or street to determine whether persons are driving while intoxicated
SB 298 – Passed Senate now in house.
Caption: Relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Public Safety and certain local law enforcement
agencies to establish a checkpoint on a highway or street to determine whether persons are driving while intoxicated
SB 369 – public hearing 3/25 still in committee
Subject: Relating to information contained in an intelligence database used to investigate and prosecute offenses committed by criminal street gangs
Bills to keep an eye on
HB 714 – Filed – in committee
Subject: Relating to the penalty for the offense of reckless driving
Covers reckless driving penalties like we wanted for failure for yield
HB 823 – Filed – in committee
Subject: Relating to the authority of a peace officer to take a blood
specimen from a vehicle operator to test for alcohol concentration or
other intoxicating substances
SB 506 – Passed in Senate, now in house
Subject: Relating to the operation and movement of motorcycles during
periods of traffic congestion
SB 730 – Passed Senate now in house
Subject: Relating to an employee’s transportation and storage of certain
firearms or ammunition while on certain property owned or controlled by
the employee’s employer
SB 1389 – Passed in Senate now going to House
Subject: Relating to the penalty for the offense of reckless driving
Covers reckless driving penalties like we wanted for failure for yield
Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month (From Suds and Butterfly)
It’s time to start on 2009 proclamations for Motorcycle Safety & Awareness month. Texas bikers have done outstanding work through the years. Go to the link below to add a city to the board…
http://ridesafeintexas.homestead.com/Proclamations2009.html
Since 2003 this campaign has been the combined knowledge & participation of many clubs, organizations & Independents across Texas. Some may not understand why we need to do this again each year…
It gives non-riding folks the chance to see riders in person and put a face to that little taillight they see on the highway. This helps a lot when we ask them to drive more aware and share the road.
Each year rider participation increases and each year the number of newspaper articles increases… which means the number of drivers receiving our message also increases.
For those new to the proclamations campaign…
Our goal is to set up dates to attend city council meetings where the riders will be presented with a proclamation for Motorcycle Safety & Awareness. The proclamation is read during the meeting. Some cities broadcast their meetings on pbs for folks in the community to watch. The local newspaper will usually run an article showing the Mayor’s support for Motorcycle Safety & Awareness month if we make sure to contact them ahead of time with this request. This media coverage is our main goal because this is what reaches the drivers in each community.
If you’re unable to add a city to the board then please check the board for cities near you and attend to support. That’s a big part of what we need is more support for these meetings.
If you’re unable to attend a meeting then maybe you have time to make the call to your local newspaper or radio station to see about getting some messages out there on motorcycle awareness. May is nationally recognized as Motorcycle Safety & Awareness month so during the next couple months most newspapers will be happy to take your call. If everyone does a little then no one has to do more than they can handle.
It’s all about looking out for the safety of the brothers & sisters we love… if we can spend all day and our last dollar for a down brother or sister’s benefit, then we oughta be able to make at least one meeting to help prevent more riders down.
On the next newsletter I’ll be able to introduce the TCOC&I; team of Safety & Awareness Coordinators for each region. They are an outstanding team who stand ready to assist with proclamations across Texas this year.
Respect & Ride Safe ~Bttrfly
State Safety & Awareness Liaison, TCOC&I;
Safety & Awareness Coordinator, TCOC&I-DFW;
http://ridesafeintexas.homestead.com
Elmer H. McKeegan
Chapter Coordinator
District 31
As scheduled, the Permian Basin Chapter meeting was held on the third Thursday at Warfield Truck Stop. Attendance has been down for several months now, with only 1-3 members showing up. This month, Jan and Bob Walker were the only ones to join me. We met informally for about half an hour, discussing the past and the future of the association. Their attendance at future meetings for the summer will be sporadic due to being out of town travelling.
I called the offices of my representative and senator but was not able to speak to either. I spoke with their aides, and expressed concern over the issues we are dealing with. I got favorable comments from both offices, but we will have to see what happens.
Until next month, ride free and keep safe.
Dean Maltsberger
District 31 Advisor