South Carolina Motorcycle Rights Association

Federal Highway Bill Progress

This week saw the most movement on the Highway bill in years. The good news is that the Senate passed a six-year bill with a solid bipartisan majority. The bad news is that, while Congress has been working for six years to get a long-term bill, they opted to instead pass another short-term extension. This is the 34th extension over the past six years, with funding remaining flat or decreasing for some programs. The problem with short-term extensions is that they give no confidence for State and Local governments to plan on the long-term Federal money that they have been promised for construction projects such as roads or bridges – that’s why so many of them are in such poor condition and are labeled structurally deficient.

More good news: the Senate bill has language to end the Federal funding of roadside motorcycle-only checkpoints, includes some language to define autocycles, and includes federal funding for motorcycle safety. We also had an amendment in the Senate, filed by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), which would have reinstated a federal motorcyclists advisory council to the Secretary of Transportation. Due to timing constraints, no amendments from the Senate were able to be offered; instead any amendments will have to happen in the House. In a perfect world, the House of Representatives would take up the Senate bill, amend it, then form a conference committee to iron out the differences between the House and Senate, pass that bill through both chambers and send it to President Obama for signature, all before the latest short-term patch expires on October 29th. So, will we have either a treat for Halloween or a trick. I’m betting on the latter, but lets hope I am wrong.

I hope everyone that is at Sturgis is having a great summer vacation!