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NEWS FROM THE HILL
In the House of Representatives this week, all eyes were on the House Freedom Caucus (a small group of Republicans who tout themselves as the most conservative of all Republicans serving in Congress) and its agenda of pressuring a vote to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. You may recall that Koskinen was one of the central figures that in the IRS scandal that lead up to the 2012 election that found the federal tax agency was being used to inappropriately harass conservative organizations. Under Koskinen’s watch, tens of thousands of e-mails under congressional subpoena were illegally destroyed, inhibiting investigation into the agency’s wrongdoing.
Behind the scenes it remains unclear if the Freedom Caucus has the votes they need for an impeachment. There are a number of moderate Republicans who have signaled they are not willing to vote for impeachment.
The BIG Story
In MRF-related hill news, Senator Sullivan from Alaska delivered good on his promise to question the Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx about the agency’s plans to reestablish the Motorcyclist Advisory Council. Secretary Fox officially made his response to Senator Sullivan this week, no less than 90 days after being asked. Secretary Foxx wrote that the agency is working through the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirements to establish the Council and stakeholders would be afforded the opportunity to weigh in publicly about who would serve as members of the Council. He went on to give more insight on what the Council would focus on, specifically suggesting that it would, “…provide meaningful insight into the safety topics identified in the FAST Act, including barrier design; road design, construction, and maintenance practices; and the architecture and implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies.”
The MRF is pleased with Senator Sullivan’s assistance with our inquiry (and all of the twenty legislators who signed on to a letter questioning the Agency for its intentions regarding Council participants) and hopes to continue to work with the Senator’s office on this particular issue through the positive relationship built by ABATE of Alaska.
EXECUTIVE & REGULATORY UPDATES
Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner is taking the EPA to task for failing to produce legally required reports on the environmental impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard which concerns how much ethanol is in use in the U.S. In August, the EPA Office of Inspector General published a report finding the EPA’s Office of Research and Development has not complied with a statutory requirement to provide a report to Congress every three years on the impact of biofuels including ethanol. In Sensenbrenner’s letter sent late last week, the legislator demanded that the agency produce the report and provide updates by October 8. "Additional and updated research and analysis allows lawmakers to better gauge the strengths and weaknesses of policy we enact, and science-based decision-making is vital when evaluating our biofuel mandate," he wrote in the letter. As of this writing, the EPA has not yet responded.
STATE SNAPSHOT - WISCONSIN
Though generally speaking most state legislatures are out of session, that doesn’t mean the work stops being done. Even in the “off” months, many SMROs like Wisconsin have to keep a close ear to the ground to ensure they are prepared for the 2017 legislative year.
ABATE of Wisconsin has recently been discussing its legislative agenda for 2017 and are in the process of identifying priorities which will include an autocycle bill to try and separate autocycles and motorcycles for reporting and classification purposes as well as augmenting a Right of Way law which they worked on in 2006 and 2010. Executive Director Dave "Chubby" Charlebois indicated that the law is limited and they were looking forward to adding additional components including violations for crossing left of center, etc. They have already secured sponsors in both houses for the measure and look forward to the legislative session getting underway.
In other news, ABATE of Wisconsin will be undergoing some possible changes with Officer elections scheduled for October. The entire Board of Directors is up for reelection and many are deep in “campaign mode” sharing their profiles and accomplishments in their monthly newsletter to highlight what they have achieved on behalf of their members.
Another initiative that Wisconsin bikers are focusing on is legislative training for their politically active members. For many, lobbying elected officials and clearly understanding the state legislative process is complicated. The hope was that with legislative training, more bikers in Wisconsin would get involved with state government affairs resulting in an even great voice for the biker community within the state. Though interest is starting out slow, ABATE of Wisconsin is hopeful that more of its members express an interest in this critical component for biker rights.
ELECTION NEWS – Spending to Win
Compared to the astronomical numbers being spent in the presidential election, spending in congressional House races seem like a drop in the bucket. But I would venture to guess that what some would call a “drop in the bucket” is a pretty astronomical number to most. House elections have seen a jump in outside spending in the last few years, from about $29 million in the 2012 elections to $43 million in 2014. This time around, we’ve only seen about $40 million spent on things like advertisements, TV spots, and websites, but we still have almost 7 weeks to go. There is a fairly good chance we will set a new record for this election when it’s all said and done.
Interestingly, there have been a few ‘hot spots’ where serious money has been dumped into local races and at the primary level. Kansas’ race for the 1st Congressional District primary had a price tag of about $2.7 million. The reason being that it’s a super competitive seat and featured a fierce rivalry between incumbent Rep. Tim Huelskamp and newcomer Roger Marshall. Marshall defeated Huelskamp in the primary held August 2. Other ‘top spenders’ include Ohio’s 8th Congressional District and Maine’s 2nd District – also both battleground races.
As we wrap up state primaries and move into the general election in November, we’re likely to see more money dumped into battleground district and state races. The three weeks leading up to election day are prime spending weeks as ‘undecideds’ are picked off one by one. I don’t have a crystal ball to tell you who wins what states, but what is for sure, is that TV networks and media moguls are turning a pretty profit as election spending hits an all-time high.
MRF NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEETING OF THE MINDS IS UPON US! This time next week, I will make my first trip ever to Oklahoma City and participate in my first ever Meeting of the Minds, (or MotM as many of us has abbreviated). Though I have had the pleasure of meeting some of you during May’s Bikers Inside the Beltway event, I am looking forward to connecting with more of our members and letting them know about what’s been going on in Washington. It’s been a whirlwind since I started back in May and I am eager to hear your thoughts and comments about we can continue doing to bring value to our members. I hope you won’t be shy when I see you next week – come up and introduce yourself, and please forgive me if we’ve met before or spoken on the phone or traded emails and it takes me a few minutes to place you! Eventually I will have everyone memorized but that’s going to take a little time. Flag me down next week, I want to hear from you and hear what you like about what your MRF is doing and what we could be doing more of. I take these comments to heart and am committed to ensuring all of our members have a voice. Come use yours next week in OKC!
Until then, I remain:
Your Friend in Washington,
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Megan Ekstrom
Vice-President of Government Affairs & Public Relations
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation