Happy Friday Freedom Fighters,
SB 281 marches on. Longtime ABATE of Indiana supporter Mark Messmer authored this bill to clean up messy language from the 2017 ORV child helmet bill. I’ll circle back to Mark further down in this update. The bill was heard in committee on Tuesday and passed 8-0. Jay testified in support. This now goes back to the Senate for readings 2 & 3, and (assuming it passes) will go to the House for another round of readings and committee hearings, before it is signed into law by the Governor.
HB1022; is it alive or is it dead? Not only is it the bill that would not die, but it is the bill that refused to live. You read that right, it’s dead. Here’s what went right. ABATE lobbied for the bill, and it gained enough traction for a committee hearing. Jay spent significant time communicating with committee members and ultimately testified in support on Tuesday. The Teamsters (including former Region 3 director Bill McKinley) testified in support as well. Here’s where it went wrong. The bill was not voted on by the committee. With no vote, the bill died in committee. We will continue to work with the Motorcycle Rider’s Foundation to address Autonomous Vehicle concerns at the federal level while preparing to support this language during next year’s General Assembly.
The situation regarding HB1022 indicates a couple of things about ABATE’s sphere of influence at the Statehouse. It is neither as prolific or as powerful as it once was. Our lobbying strategy is very successful. That strategy is that we conduct ourselves professionally and we stick exclusively to motorcycle issues. We’re a competent group, and it shows. All is not lost and there’s still time to rite the ship as it were. Here’s how we accomplish that. Proliferation - we need more legislator friends and champions. That means getting face to face with legislators, being distinctly ABATE members, and talking about our issues. Power - we need more members. We have to recruit. More voters in ABATE = more power. Recruit, recruit, recruit!
Getting back to Senator Messmer, and tying in the quest for more friends and champions. Mark and Representative Mike Speedy have thrown their hat into the ring for Congressional seats that have opened up this year. While having friends in Washington DC is great, that also means that we’ll have to train their replacements in Indianapolis, as their absence resets years of solid ABATE work. Plans are brewing to help move this process along right after the primaries, and I’ll keep you updated.
Next Week:
We continue to champion SB 281 as it moves through the legislative process and will keep an eye on SB65 as it also passed out of committee and moves through the process as well. For all intents and purposes we’re halfway through this session of the General Assembly.
Monday is the last day for 3rd reading of House bills in the House.
Tuesday is the last day for 3rd reading of Senate bills in the Senate.
|
Bill Number |
Brief |
ABATE's Position |
Status as of 02.02 |
Notes |
|
Extends Lemon Law Protection to RVs |
Support |
Assigned to Senate Judiciary Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled |
|
|
Right to Repair |
Support |
Assigned to Senate Commerce and Technology Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled |
|
|
Requires Direct Human Oversight of Automated Commercial Motor Vehicles |
Support |
Assigned to Senate Homeland Security & Transportation Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled. |
|
|
Salvage Motor Vehicles |
Neutral |
Passed out of Committee |
||
|
Child safety requirements for off-road vehicles |
Support |
Passed out of Committee |
Implements several fixes from 2017 ORV child helmet bill. |
|
|
Requires Direct Human Oversight of Automated Commercial Motor Vehicles |
Support |
House Roads & Transportation Committee hearing 01.30 |
Assumed to be dead - Not voted on during committee hearing. |
|
|
Allows Disuse of Seatbelts to be Used as Contributory Negligence |
Oppose |
Assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled |
|
|
Defines and defunds "J-Turn Intersections |
Neutral |
Assigned to House Roads & Transportation Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled |
|
|
Right to Repair |
Support |
Assigned to House Agriculture & Rural Development Committee |
Assumed to be dead - No committee hearing scheduled |
|
|
BMV Matters |
Neutral |
House Roads & Transportation Committee hearing 01.23 |
Assumed to be dead - Not voted on during committee hearing. |
Staying Vigilant,
Aaron
