South Carolina Motorcycle Rights Association

RIDING FREE FROM DC:

Your Weekly Biker Bulletin from Inside the Beltway

Your Motorcycle Riders Foundation team in Washington, D.C. is pleased to provide our members with the latest information and updates on issues that impact the freedom and safety of American street motorcyclists. Count on your MRF to keep you informed about a range of matters that are critical to the advancement of motorcycling and its associated lifestyle. Published weekly when the U.S. Congress is in session.

Capitol Hill Update

Words Matter
On Thursday, the Co-Chairmen of the House Motorcycle Caucus, Congressman Michael Burgess (TX) and Congressman Tim Walberg (MI) sent a bipartisan letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The letter asked that in light of the emergence of new vehicles, like autocycles, on our roadways if the current definition of a motorcycle is still appropriate. Five other legislators joined the letter, Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO), Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA), Congressman Troy Balderson (OH), Congressman Steve Stivers (OH) and Congressman Collin Peterson (MN).

For the last three years at the Meeting of the Minds, our partner state motorcyclists rights organizations (SMRO) have unanimously voted to have the MRF address the issue of the federal definition of a motorcycle. This week over 1,000 of you contacted Congress and asked your representatives to join the letter asking NHTSA for clarification. While this is the first step in a long process, we hope it begins a conversation about this important topic. As many of you know this discussion has taken place in numerous state capitals and has created a patchwork of rules and regulations regarding how autocycles are licensed, registered and insured.

We thank all of you who reached out to your legislators and helped educate them on this issue. Below is a link to the press release from Congressman Michael Burgess (TX) and a link to the letter.  

Press Release
https://burgess.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401102

Letter:
https://burgess.house.gov/uploadedfiles/04112019_burgess__walberg_letter_to_nhtsa.pdf
 

Current Definition:
“Motorcycle means a motor vehicle with motive power having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground.” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2018-title49-vol6/xml/CFR-2018-title49-vol6-sec571-3.xml

War Room
Over the couple two weeks, MRF members have sent over 2,200 letters to Congress asking their U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor H. Res. 255, regarding motorcycle profiling. This week three more Congressman joined the resolution, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA), Congressman Ken Buck (CO) and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (WI) bringing the total number of cosponsors to 11 after just two weeks.

On Wednesday, our D.C. team held a strategy session to review all 435 Members of Congress and place them on target lists for our profiling resolution. We have prioritized focusing on five categories of members.

1. Members of Congress that were co-sponsors last year;
2. Members of the House Motorcycle Caucus;
3. Offices that were contacted at least ten times by MRF members;
4. Members of the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the resolution;
5. Members from the states identified in the Motorcycle Profiling Project’s National Survey Top 10 states

We now have a target list of nearly 70 offices that fall into more than one of these categories. These are our most likely allies on the Hill, and we will reach out to all of these offices and educate them on the issue of motorcycle profiling and this resolution.  

Thank you again to the 2,200 MRF members who sent letters to Congress on this topic.  You can track the bill at  https://tinyurl.com/Hres255

Bikers Inside The Beltway 2019
We are only five weeks away from Bikers Inside the Beltway 2019 and are starting to prepare for the states that plan on lobbying on Capitol Hill.  So far, we have people signed up from the following 21 states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.

If you, or people from your state, intend to participate in BITB, please sign up by May 8, 2019 to give us enough time to prepare all of the lobbying packets that will be necessary for your meetings on Capitol Hill.  The lobbying prep session will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 20th where we will review all of the legislation and distribute the lobbying packets.  On Tuesday, May 21st we will head to the Capitol to lobby for the day.

You can read more about the hotels, reservation deadlines and register at www.mrf.org/events.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation Team in D.C.

Tiffany & Rocky

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders. The MRF is chiefly concerned with issues at the national and international levels that impact the freedom and safety of American street motorcyclists. The MRF is committed to being a national advocate for the advancement of motorcycling and its associated lifestyle and works in conjunction with its partners to help educate elected officials and policymakers in Washington and beyond.

All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. Motorcycle Riders Foundation. All rights reserved. Ride With The Leaders™ by joining the MRF at http://mrf.org or call (202) 546-0983
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