Legislative Update

June 13-15

The East Texas Chopper Guys, Fathers Day Rally, for the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association, will be held at the ETME Acres Inc. campground this year. The location is on Hwy 21 between Nacogdoches and San Augustine.
Friday will be kind of laid back, set up camp, self guided tours around the area and food by G&N Scooter Shack. We will have tunes by DJ Doc for the weekend and an informal Pickin’ Session Friday night.
Saturday kicks off at 9:00am with a Run-N-Gun Poker Run by Sputnik, last bike in at 12:00 noon. 2:00pm Field Meet starts. Skills, Thrills and Spills under the direction of Wild Bill Barr.
8:00pm The Janet Z back by popular demand with her original Texas Blues and Folk Music.
Sunday 9:00am Brother Mac and the Circuit Riders wikk conduct Worship Services for all.
A hand made ETCG shirt Quilt Will be won by some lucky individual Saturday Night. Tickets $5 each or 6 for $5 Admission $30, includes Camping, Run Pin and Participation in all events.
T-Shirts $ 15 each.

We will be at the State COC Meeting this weekend where I will become a independent member of the Texas Defenders.

The following weekend we will be at the TMRA 2 meeting in Hico. We expect at least one member from every chapter to be present at the State meeting in Hico.

Sputnik

For more information call Dennis Leggett at Leggett Cycles 936-269-3394

Texas MC Rights Association State Meeting = May 2-4, 2008

We have secured the Hico City Park for our State Meeting. Hico is West of Waco on Hwy. 6, where it joins with Hwy 281 in Hamilton County. (about 18 miles north of Stephenville.) Warriors may arrive Friday afternoon, set up camp at the park and relax.

There will be no official business scheduled for Friday night. Just kick tires and tell lies while meeting old friends and getting acquainted with new ones.

Saturday morning at 11:00 am the Advisor meeting will get under way.
Members are welcome to sit in on the meeting but do not have a vote on Advisor issues.

The General Meeting will begin Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm. Any issues pertaining to the Association in general will be brought up and handled at this time.
One issue that will be brought up at the General Meeting will be a proposed change of the Bylaws to allow Beer sales at Rallies.

Hico is a quiet little town and the people are friendly. Motels, for those not wishing to camp, are 18 miles away in Stephenville. If you choose not to camp you are sure to miss out on a lot of fun.
We would like each chapter to bring or send an Auction item. There will be some new products for sale during the weekend. Bring a friend. Please send at least one member from each chapter. You could all chip in to pay the expenses of at least one member. That way you can get a personal report and be sure any issues you have get discussed.

HB 529, introduced in the Louisiana legislature will make it illegal to carry a concealed weapon while operating a motorcycle. There is no allowance for those with a CHL. The Bill will be heard by the Judiciary committee.
Let’s lend them a hand and contact the members of that committee expressing our opposition to the Bill.
The following are the committee members and their E addresses.

Ernest Wooton, Chairman larep105@legis.state.la.us HD 105 ~ Belle Chase, Louisiana
Damon Baldone, Vice Chairman larep053@legis.state.la.us HD 53 ~Houma, Louisiana

Roy Burrell ~ HD 2 larep002@legis.state.la.us
Don Cazayoux ~ HD 18 larep18@legis.state.la.us
Elbert Guillory ~ HD 40 _larep040@legis.state.la.us
Mickey Guillory ~ HD 41 _larep041@legis.state.la.us
Chris Hazel ~ HD 27 _hazelc@legis.state.la.us
Frank Howard ~ HD 24 _Howardf@legis.state.la.us
Joe Lopinto ~ HD 80 _lopintoj@legis.state.la.us
Nick Lorusso ~ HD 94 _larep094@legis.state.la.us
Barbara Norton ~ HD 3 _nortonb@legis.state.la.us
John Schroder ~ HD 77 _schroderj@legis.state.la.us
Gary Smith ~ HD 56 _larep56@legis.state.la.us
Rickey Templet ~ HD 85 _templetr@legis.state.la.us
Bodi White ~HD 64 _larep064@legis.state.la.us

We are heading out for the Thunder in The Hill Country first thing in the morning. We'll set up down there and get back Sunday evening. Have a good weekend.

Sputnik

HB 529 has been introduced in Louisiana titled:

"Unlawful possession of a handgun while riding a motorcycle"

It shall be unlawful for a person to possess a handgun on his person, while operating a motorcycle.
Any handgun or firearm possessed by the operator of a motorcycle shall be properly stored in a compartment on the motorcycle while the motorcycle is in operation.

The law does not apply to a peace officer and makes no allowence for those having a CHL.

Conviction carries a fine of not more than $500, imprisonment for six months or both.

Don't wait til the last minute saying it wont happen. Get on the members ass of the Justice Committee Members NOW>

Sputnik

"If we move in mass, be it ever so circuitously, we shall attain our object; but if we break into squads, everyone pursuing the path he thinks most direct, we become an easy conquest to those who can now barely hold us in check."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to William Duane, 1811)

Reference: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Memorial Edition, 13:29

It was brought to my attention by Butterfly that my last post with the Sites on the North American Union was FALSE. I read the site and Agree with her. However while saying the stories were false, they did add, that is not to say they won’t do that in the future.

Transportation Secretary Peters says she plans to continue with the program to allow Mexican trucks to travel US highways in a trial program. Congress voted to kill the project and remove the funding for it. Peters said she will just shift money from other programs and continue doing things her way.
It appears this issue will become a test of wills before it is settled.

She wants the 2010 Federal Grant money to be shifted from MC Safety & Awareness to a lobby fund for states to try to initiate an adult helmet law. People in the Transportation Department, both state and federal appear to be good at shifting funds. Remember TxDOT shifted our dedicated fund for MC Training into the 601 Highway Fund so they could steal 25% of our budget each year.
I have been pissed off about that for three years now but told Clif Burdette we would wait till he retired before we made any waves.

That time has come and so we went in to talk to John today while we were in Austin paying our sales tax. Those who attended the Safety Seminar met him there and most everyone we spoke to had a good impression of the man. I am even more impressed with him now.
It just so happened he was working on the Budget when we got there and he was as unhappy as I have been about it. We discussed everything that has been done with the fund since 1993 and he got even more unhappy than he had been when we arrived. This is a man who is not afraid to buck the system and one we can really work with.
We talked about Mary Peters and TxDOT and what Motorcycle Awareness really means.
We both recalled when May was Motorcycle Awareness Month before it was changed To MC Safety & Awareness Month. We agreed that needed to be changed back and as we continued talking we came up with several things that needed to be changed In the entire system. He spoke of several things our meager budget had to pay for that It should not be paying. He was trying to find $30,000 for workbooks that were not a part of the budget but that were needed.
We spent about 2 ½ hours making plans for implementation on several fronts.
I will be calling on the officers of Texas ABATE Confederation, Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association and Butterfly to get their input on some of the issues we discussed this evening. Quite possibly there will be major changes in the wind.

Speaking of Motorcycle Safety & Awareness month, it is that time of year again.

Time to start getting those Proclamations and getting all the publicity from the media that you can possibly get squeezed out of them. Butterfly has been coordinating this effort for several years now and doing a good job of it. I would recommend you contact her to learn where you can help. Remember NCOM is coming to Texas and we need to show them we are involved with the awareness program.

I know this next issue is one of the most controversial issues in the country but I have to mention it. HR 4088 is an immigration Bill. It calls for putting 8000 more Border Patrol Officers on the border and set up a way for employers to verify the legal status of employees. I’m not asking anyone to do anything about this Bill but just using it as an example of how our government works. The Bill received enough cosponsors to pass it on the Floor including some very high ranking Democrats such as John Murtha.
It was well understood that Speaker Pelosi would not bring the Bill up for a vote. A Discharge Petition was filed (DP110-5). 218 signatures would require the Bill to go to the Floor for an up or down vote. Every Republican in Texas except Ron Paul signed that petition. Only one Democrat in Texas signed the Petition.
This is a true example of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.
Pretend to support
something until it is time to fish or cut bait. That is how we get Gridlock. We’ve had it in DC for many years.

Ride Free – Ride Sober
Sputnik

The Lake Granbury Liberty Riders chapter of Texas Motorcycle Rights Association will not be having their regularly scheduled meeting tonight (Wednesday March 26th), out of respect for a fallen brother. Hammer, the President of the Granbury chapter of Boozefighters M/C was killed Sunday, riding his new Harley.

Funeral services are pending.

Please keep his family, brothers, and sisters, in your thoughts and prayers, as they are in mine.

Greg Bodovsky
Senate District 22 Advisor
Texas Motorcycle Rights Association

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"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end upbeing governed by your inferiors." ...Plato