Legislative Update

FYI CONVENTION

We will be camping at Creek Harbor Fish Camp at Eagle Mountain Lake for
the Democrat Convention. (the same place we had our state meeting), The
grounds are reserved from Thursday June 8th - Saturday June 10th. There
are 13 air conditioned cabins to rent on a first come first served basis.
They are $45 per night. To reserve a cabin contact the camp at
817-236-6111. Give them your bed layout preference from one full bed to
four bunk beds all at the same price. There are also a few RV hookups for
rent but I didn't get the price.
Tent camping will be $10 for the three days, payable to the association
Secretary. The Convention is at the Tarrant County Convention Center.

From I-820 W take FM 1220 W / Boat Club Road. Go until you come to a
Texaco station where Boat Club Road veers off to the left and FM 1220 W
goes to the right veer to the right and stay on FM 1220 W. Continue out
past Eagle Mountain Lake (the town) to Indian Creek Road on the left. Turn
left here and go into the campground. There will be signs posted on the
right side of the road at the station and again at Indian creek Road.
Our Caucus meeting will be on Friday afternoon 1-3 pm in Room 121-B. We
need a good showing for this meeting. We plan to have guest passes at the
Park on Thursday night.
Any questions call Terri at 512-971-8777.
Sputnik
State Chair

MRF E-MAIL NEWS
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
jeff@mrf.org (e-mail)

May 15, 2006

#06NR11 - URGENT CALL TO ACTION

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) reports the United States House of
Representatives will hold a legislative hearing on HR 2048, the "Right to
Repair Act". The hearing will be held by the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection in the
Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2123 at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, May 17th
2006 and is open to the public.

This legislation is important to all motorcyclists who want the right to
choose where to have their motorcycle repaired. HR 2048 would make the same
computer diagnostic information, tools and training available to the owners
of every type of vehicle including motorcycles that currently is only
afforded to those under the dealership umbrella. The deliberate withholding
of pertinent information compels independent repair facilities to turn
business away forcing vehicle owners to return to the dealership when any
kind of computer diagnostics is necessary.

The MRF believes every American has the right to choose who performs the
diagnostics on their motorcycle or automobile. Furthermore, consumers should
have the right to choose where, how and who will ultimately repair their
vehicles and also have the right to do the necessary work themselves.
Automakers should not be making service decisions for consumers.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation needs your help to move this legislation
through the House committee. Please take a look at the list of
Representatives currently sitting on the subcommittee. These members will be
hearing HR 2048 on this Wednesday, May 17th and are NOT already supporting
the bill. If your state is listed below, call your Representative's office
as soon as you can. The key to the bill's success is hearing that their
constituents at home support HR2048.

If your state is shown below, call your member of Congress and tell them the
following:

1. Identify yourself as a resident of the state of __________
2. Let them know you are calling on behalf of the Motorcycle Riders
Foundation
3. Tell them you support HR 2048, the motor vehicle "Right to Repair Act"
4. Ask them to co sponsor HR 2048
5. Tell them HR 2048 is being heard Wednesday, the 17th in the Energy and
Commerce committee and you would like the congressperson to support it.
6. Ask them to vote for the bill
7. Let them know that this will be scored as a "key vote" by the Motorcycle
Riders Foundation.

FLORIDA
Rep. Jim Davis (D-FL) Tampa, St. Petersburg area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-3376 Washington Fax: 202-225-5652 Tampa Phone:
813-354-9217

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) Ocala, Gainesville, Orange Park area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-5744 Washington Fax: 202-225-3973 Ocala Phone:
352-351-8777

PENNSYLVANIA
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) Lancaster, Unionville, Kennett Square area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-2411 Washington Fax: 202-225-2013 Lancaster
Phone: 717-393-0667

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) Westmoreland, Pittsburgh area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-2301 Washington Fax: 202-225-1844 Pittsburgh
Phone: 412-344-5583

ARKANSAS
Rep. Mike ROSS (D-AR) Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Prescott area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-3773 Washington Fax: 202-225-1314 Pine Bluff
Phone: 870-536-3376

TEXAS
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) San Antonio area Washington Phone 202-225-3236
Washington Fax 202-225-1915 San Antonio Phone 210-472-6195

OHIO Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Akron, Loraine area.
Washington Phone 202-225-3401 Washington Fax 202-225-2266 Akron Phone
330-865-8450

OREGON
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) Bend, Medford, Hood River area.
Washington Phone: 202-225-6730 Washington Fax: 202-225-5774 Bend Phone:
541-389-4408

WYOMING
Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY) At-Large
Washington Phone: 202-225-2311 Washington Fax: 202-225-3057
Casper: 307-261-6595

TENNESSEE
Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Memphis and Franklin area Washington Phone:
202-225-2811 Washington Fax: 202-225-3004 Memphis Phone: 901-382-5811

NEW JERSEY
Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) Warren area
Washington Phone: 202-225-5361 Washington Fax: 202-225-9460 Warren Phone:
908-757-7835

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) Concord, Nashua, Keene, Littleton, Peterborough
area Washington Phone: 202-225-5206 Washington Fax: 202-225-2946 Concord
Phone: 603-226-0259

NEBRASKA
Rep Lee Terry (R-NE) Omaha area
Washington Phone: 202-225-4155 Washington Fax: 202-225-5452 Omaha Phone:
402-397-9944

IDAHO
Rep Butch Otter (R-ID) Boise, Coeur d?Alene, Lewiston, Star area Washington
Phone: 202-225-6611 Washington Fax: 202-225-3029 Boise Phone: 208-336-9831

CALIFORNIA
Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) Palm Springs
Washington Phone 202-225-5330 Washington Fax: 202-225-2961 Palm Springs
Phone: 760-320-1076

<<30>>

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(c)All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction
permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated
in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists' rights organization
headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists' rights
organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC, the
Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted
exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early
1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause of
rider safety and rider freedom.

Another day another $67,000.....WASTED!!!
That is what they figure the cost of a Special session to be. The Senate
came to the Floor today still deadlocked on HB 1 and HB 5. They were on
the Floor just long enough to read a few Senate Bills for first reading
and send them to committee. They passed three or four Resolutions and
suspended the Rules to allow SB 6 to be heard on the Floor Tuesday.
Very little discussion on the real Bills except to say they are working on
them but aren't there yet.
Senator Shapiro told the reporters she still has the votes to keep HB 1
from coming to the Floor.

We met with Rep Chuck Hopson today. He is a Warrior and a member of the
"LAWMAKERS M/C. He has agreed to give the opening welcome to the attendees
at the Southern Cross Conference. Thanks to him for taking time out from
his campaign to attend the Conference.

I am heading out to the NCOM Convention tomorrow night and will be back on
Sunday.
Sputnik

We learned about 12:30 am this morning that the Finance Committee went
back into session last night and passed HB 1 and HB 5. Senator Shapiro
called it an act of futility because she would keep HB 1 from coming to
the Senate Floor for a vote of the full senate.
HB 5 was passed but extended the Sept. 1 deadline to January 1 2007. We
anticipate a hot time on the senate Floor come Monday morning and will get
a post out as soon as they adjourn Monday night.
Sput

Just a quick reminder: There are only 7 more days in our online
vote that will determine which Democratic House incumbent and
challenger will be featured in the next fundraising emails from
PAC for a Change.

We've already heard from thousands of Americans -- including
you. Thanks so much for casting your vote!

But we want to hear from thousands more Americans before voting
ends. Please forward this email to your friends and family now!

http://ga4.org/pacforachange/join-forward.html?domain=boxer2004&r=f1Sfxj612myq&

Here's a look at the current standings of the top 15 House
candidates... but remember, there's still a full week of
balloting left, and anything can still happen between now and
the close of voting on May 12th:

*** Current vote leaders ***
(as of May 5th, 11am ET)

Incumbents:
Rep. Chet Edwards (TX-17) -- 27%
Rep. Melissa Bean (IL-8) -- 17%
Rep. John Salazar (CO-3) -- 16%
Rep. Stephanie Herseth (SD-AL) -- 11%
Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA-3) -- 10%
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-2) -- 8%

Challengers:
Francine Busby (CA-50) -- 27%
Nick Lampson (TX-22) -- 15%
Tammy Duckworth (IL-6) -- 9%
Lois Murphy (PA-6) -- 7%
Diane Farrell (CT-4) -- 7%
Patsy Madrid (NM-1) -- 6%
Ron Klein (FL-22) -- 5%
Charlie Wilson (OH-6) -- 4%
Eric Massa (NY-29) -- 4%

www.barbaraboxer.com/vote

Remember, because we'll send a fundraising email out to the
entire PAC for a Change community on behalf of the two
Democratic House candidates who win this online vote, our
community's decision can mean tens of thousands of dollars of
critical financial support for their deserving campaigns.

We saw the power of our PAC for a Change community at work in
March when, thanks to your support, a similar fundraising email
raised more than $68,000 for my friend and colleague Sen. Bill
Nelson in his race against Katherine Harris in Florida.

Now we can do the same thing for two Democratic House candidates
(one incumbent and one challenger) in key, competitive races
across America -- two races that may well determine whether we
pick-up the 15 seats we need to take back Congress this
November.

Please invite your friends and family to make their choices now
-- before our online polls close on May 12th!

http://ga4.org/pacforachange/join-forward.html?domain=boxer2004&r=f1Sfxj612myq&

www.barbaraboxer.com/vote

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer

It appears that tempers are already frayed to the breaking point over the
entire Special Session and there is every possibility that this will prove
to be another wasted $ 2 million +. HB 1 is going nowhere in the Senate
Finance Committee. There are not enough votes to pass the House version.
Senator Shapiro's version could not get any where either.
Six of the nine Republican Senators walked out of the committee in protest
this morning and Chairman Ogden ordered the Sergeant at Arms to find them
and return them to the hearing. He snidely remarked that he should check
the airport first.
The hearing was finally rescheduled for Saturday morning at 9:30am. I
won't be there as I am headed home to give Gwen my pickup and get her car
to drive to the NCOM Convention on Tuesday night.
HB 5, the cigarette tax still doesn't have enough votes to come out of
committee as written by the House either. The only Bill to be passed by
both House's is HB 3 the business tax Bill.

Time is their enemy now and it is possible there may be some kind of a
very bad compromise passed just to meet the June 1st deadline with
promises of making major changes in the regular session next year. If that
happens we all know changes for the better will not be forthcoming.
Hang on to your hat because we are in for one hell of a ride during this
coming week.

Sput

Good Morning all, it is morning now.

On Tuesday when HB 3 came to the Senate Floor for third reading and final passage Senator Mike Jackson, district 11, stunned top leaders by voting no on the motion to suspend the rules. Senator Jackson said he had heard from so many of his constituents in opposition to the Bill he had to vote no until their concerns were addressed. After holding up the vote all day while he negotiated safeguards he then voted yes and HB 3 passed as written.
We had a long talk with Mike today prior to the Finance Committee hearing. The concerns were the same as we have expressed at the capitol since this Special Session began. There would be a large, permanent tax increase to fund a property tax cut that would be gone within three years at most. After doing the figures on Austin homeowners their tax bill will be greater than last year due to the 12% increase in valuation just passed.
Mike made a deal that the senate will pass a Bill to limit the valuation increase to no more than 5% per year as well as the tax rate not being able to be raised more than three cents. It ain’t much but they were going to find a way to pass HB 3 and he got the best deal he could by holding up the passage for a few hours. That’s how it works in the capitol.

I made the Finance Committee hearing to testify against HB 5, the tobacco tax Bill. I removed my vest and spoke representing myself. I explained that this enormous tax increase was going to create a black market where there would be a lot of money made but it wasn’t going to be made by the state.
I explained that breaking a stupid law doesn’t make you a criminal. I told them I would consider buying cheap cigarettes and selling them at a reasonable price a public service rather than a crime. I am told I was shown on KVUE News during my testimony. I know several reporters came over to make sure they had the spelling of my name right. The reporter for the Associated came over and asked Mr. Strain I know they call you Sputnik but what is your real first name. I told him my name was now just Sputnik with no last name and he asked to see some identification. When I handed him my license he said it’s not that I didn’t believe you but I am required to verify names if I am going to print anything.
After a very long day none of the three Bills were acted on and I will be back in committee early in this morning.