Motorcycle Riders Foundation Archives — Page 4 of 6 — Bikernet Blog

Jan 21

Motorcycle Riders Foundation Annual Meeting

By Wayfarer General Posts

Earlier this month the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) Board of Directors (BOD) conducted the annual January meeting. The January meeting allows the BOD to review the work of the MRF over the past year and look forward to what lies ahead.

Two new members of the BOD were seated at the meeting, Eric Ross of Iowa, as a new MRF Reps Representative and Rick “Brick” Lindsay of Louisiana, as a new Sustaining State Motorcycle Rights Organization Representative. Additionally, during meetings last year, Gary Goracke of Minnesota, was added as the new Director of the State Representative Program and Andy Kelly of Pennsylvania, was added as a MRF Reps Representative. If you’d like to see a complete list of board members, with their titles and terms of service click here.

The end of 2021 and beginning of 2022 also saw the MRF renew and establish new contracts with six different vendors. JPK Services will once again provide office management and membership services, Husch Blackwell Strategies will operate our lobbying arm and Policy Engage will provide our legislative and outreach tracking tools. Additional contracts were agreed to for IT services, editing and publishing the American Biker Journal and a new dedicated social media director.

The January meeting is one of three annual meetings of the MRF BOD and is the only one held virtually. A second meeting occurs during May’s “Bikers Inside the Beltway” event in Washington, D.C. and the final meeting of the year is held during September’s “Meeting of the Minds” conference. All three meetings are open to MRF members and are great opportunities to understand how the MRF operates.

Thank you to our board members for their service to the MRF and their dedication to the rights of all motorcyclists.

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.
Visit Website at: https://mrf.org/

Jan 18

ABATE of Michigan Annual Seminar

By Wayfarer General Posts

This weekend, ABATE of Michigan hosted its annual seminar in Saginaw, Michigan. In attendance were two longtime legislative champions for motorcyclist rights. Current Congressman, Tim Walberg and former Congressman Jim Barcia, joined the event.

Congressman Walberg is the Co-Chair of the House Motorcycle Caucus and a leading advocate for motorcyclist rights in Congress. Representative Walberg has championed a number of issues bikers care about, including work against the profiling of bikers and the need to ensure autonomous vehicles can recognize and react to motorcyclists.

Former Congressman Jim Barcia of Michigan fought against federal helmet blackmail efforts in the 1990’s. Along with Congressman Petri of Wisconsin and others, Representative Barcia defeated federal regulations that established a penalty, whereby a certain percentage of a state’s highway funds were shifted to safety programs if the state did not have a universal helmet law. This regulation effectively blackmailed states into enacting helmet laws by holding federal funds hostage. Working hand in hand with the Motorcycle Riders Foundation lobbyist at the time, Wayne Curtain, Congress changed the law and freed states to make helmet law determinations without federal government interference.

It’s great to see past and current leaders in the motorcyclists rights movement taking the time to attend seminars like this. Thank you to ABATE of Michigan for building and maintaining these relationships which benefit all bikers across our nation.

Nov 23

Mid-South M.I.L.E. 2021

By Wayfarer General Posts

Bikers gathered in Dallas, Texas for the 29th annual Mid-South M.I.L.E. event

from Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF)

Like the Midwest’s Heartland STEAM event, the Mid-South M.I.L.E. brings together bikers from neighboring states to discuss legislative priorities, share ideas and build relationships.

CLICK HERE To Read this Event Coverage on Bikernet.com

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Nov 06

MRF update: Highway Bill Passes – a Year Late

By Wayfarer General Posts

November 5, 2021

Highway Bill Passes… a Year Late

After a 13-month delay and enactment of three separate extensions, Congress finally passed a surface transportation reauthorization bill. This bill, sometimes called the highway bill or the infrastructure bill, has been a hotly debated topic in D.C. for several years. Once signed by the President, the bill will reauthorize many highway programs, provide funding for road and bridge construction and replace the previous highway bill passed in 2015, known as the FAST Act.

Just a week ago, Congress gave itself a third extension running into December. Yet election victories by Republican candidates, especially a win by the GOP in the Virginia governor’s race, seems to have spooked Democrats, and motivated passage of a bill that has been awaiting a vote since the summer.

For the last two years, the House of Representatives and Senate have battled over transportation priorities and funding levels. In both 2020 and 2021, the House of Representatives passed versions of their highway bill, only to be rebuffed by the Senate. Under pressure from President Biden, the Senate finally acted, passing in August a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. This action by the Senate, effectively forced the House to accept the Senate version of the bill or continue to pass short term extensions of current law.

However, pressure from the left wing of the Democratic party delayed a vote on the Senate’s infrastructure bill until an unconnected piece of legislation, referred to as the “human infrastructure bill,” was agreed to. That bill, called “Build Back Better,” had an original price tag of $3.5 trillion and effectively held the infrastructure bill hostage. After months of debate, and Tuesday’s election results, House Democrats agreed to vote on a smaller Build Back Better bill later in the month, opening the door to a final vote on the infrastructure bill.

At 11:27pm Friday night, the House agreed to the Senate’s bill and passed a $1.2 trillion 5-year highway bill, known as the INVEST ACT. The final vote in the House was 228 to 206, with 13 Republicans voting in favor and 6 Democrats voting against.

BENEFITS TO BIKERS

Visit MRF Website at: https://mrf.org/

Oct 29

Congress extends deadline for highway funding – 3rd time in 13 months

By Wayfarer General Posts

October 28th, 2021

Same Old Story…

For the 3rd time in 13 months, Congress will extend the deadline to reauthorize highway funding programs.

The original deadline of September 30, 2020 was extended for a full year last fall. Last month, Congress kicked the can down the road, giving itself a 1-month extension that expires on October 31st. Facing yet another self-imposed deadline, Thursday night, Congress gave itself ANOTHER extension, this time running through December 3rd, 2021. President Biden now must sign the bill before the first of November to avoid a lapse in funding.

Over 3,700 employees in the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration would be furloughed without these stop gap funding extensions. Passage of a long-term infrastructure and highway bill remains blocked because of an inter-party fight between progressive and moderate Democrats on a host of issues.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) believes long term and stable funding for our nation’s transportation and infrastructure programs should not be continually deferred. The MRF remains committed to seeking long term solutions that advance the priorities of the nearly 10 million bikers in this country.

Visit MRF Website at: https://mrf.org/join/

Oct 23

MRF Update: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)

By Wayfarer General Posts

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation released an interactive website with data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS, which became operational in 1975, containing data on a census of fatal traffic crashes within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To be included in FARS, a crash must involve a motor vehicle traveling on a traffic way customarily open to the public and must result in the death of a vehicle occupant or a nonoccupant within 30 days of the crash.

Fatal crash data for motorcyclists and passengers from the years 2010 to 2019 is included on this website.

Users of the website can sort the information on fatalities by a variety of categories, including:

State where the crash took place
Crash Characteristics
Environmental Characteristics
Month of Crash
Time of Crash
Helmet Usage
Alcohol Usage
Age and Sex of Victims
Weather Conditions
Single Vehicle v Multi Vehicle

While this information can be useful in understanding when, why and where crashes are taking place, it’s important to note that this data includes not just traditional motorcycles but also mopeds, scooters, minibikes, and pocket bikes.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation believes crash avoidance is key component of rider safety. There are zero fatalities in crashes that never happen.

To see the website and view the decade’s long data click here.

Visit MRF Website at: https://mrf.org/

Oct 12

BANNED : Chainsaws, Golf Carts, Lawn Mowers & More

By Wayfarer General Posts

from https://mrf.org/

Chainsaws, Golf Carts, Lawn Mowers… What’s Next?

Over the weekend, California Governor Gavin Newson signed a bill into law banning the sale of all off-road, gas-powered engines, including generators, lawn equipment, pressure washers, chainsaws, weed trimmers, and even golf carts. Under the new law, these machines must be zero-emissions, meaning they will have to be either battery-powered or plug-in.

This law is particularly concerning because of the status California holds within the national economy. The population and market size that California commands often forces manufacturers to react by changing products nationwide, to conform to California standards. Additionally, states with like-minded legislatures often follow with similar laws and regulations of their own.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is concerned that this action by California, will begin a cascading effect that will eventually result in the demise of the internal combustion engine and the fuel supply tied to it. During the legislative agenda setting meeting, held at the 2021 Meeting of the Minds, in Atlanta, Georgia this very issue was debated. Working with our state partners, the MRF is currently evaluating how best to address these concerns.

The final 2022 MRF Legislative Agenda will be made public in an upcoming American Biker Journal.

To read more on the bill click here.

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. Visit the Website https://mrf.org/

Oct 03

Congress passes extension of Highway Bill

By Wayfarer General Posts

Congress Kicks the Can…
30 day Highway Bill Extension Passes

With the failure of Congress to pass a new highway bill, by the September 30th deadline, nearly 3,700 United States Department of Transportation staffers were furloughed on Friday. Most of these workers belong to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Without dedicated funding to operate, those agency workers were forbidden from coming into work on October 1st. Operations in these agencies, related to safety and construction projects, were halted as a result.

On Friday evening, in an effort to end the closure of these agencies, Congress passed an extension of the recently expired FAST Act. The 30-day extension releases federal funds so workers at the FHWA and FTA can return to work for the month of October.

An interparty fight between progressive and moderate Democrats created a stalemate on infrastructure legislation and produced the need for an extension.

This is the second time the FAST Act has been extended in just over a year. The original 2015 bill, expired on September 30, 2020, but was given a full 1-year extension, creating the recently passed September 30, 2021, deadline.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) remains engaged with lawmakers on this important bill. The MRF continues to stress the need for action on the transportation policy priorities of the nearly 10 million bikers across the country. We will keep you updated as events warrant.

Visit Motorcycle Riders Foundation website at http://mrf.org

Sep 24

Is the Highway Bill Moving Forward?

By Wayfarer General Posts

On September 30th, numerous highway funding programs will expire unless Congress acts. Currently, there are two separate and dramatically different highway bills in Congress. These bills go by many different names but are often referred to as infrastructure bills by the news media.

The first bill, passed by the House of Representatives in June with a price tag of $750 billion dollars includes six priorities of the MRF.

Continued ban on NHTSA lobbying in the states
32% Increase of Motorcycle Safety Training Funds
Reestablishment of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council at the Department of Transportation
Increased restrictions on motorcycle only check points and the profiling of bikers
Inclusion of the types of vehicles stopped to federally collected data on traffic stops
Inclusion of the ability to detect and respond to motorcycles as a requirement of autonomous vehicle studies

The Senate bill passed in August, with a cost of 1.2 trillion includes just three of those priorities.

Continued ban on NHTSA lobbying in the states
32% Increase of Motorcycle Safety Training Funds
Reestablishment of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council at the Department of Transportation

There are four potential outcomes. First, the Senate can pass the House bill. This is unlikely as Senators have been forceful in their desire to take the lead on infrastructure. Second, the two chambers can merge their bills together, finding common ground. This too is unlikely as it is time consuming, and the deadline is fast approaching. Third, the House can vote on the Senate bill. Speaker Pelosi has scheduled a vote for next week to try this path.

However, members of her party have voiced their concerns over moving this piece of legislation until they get a larger 3.5 trillion-dollar bill focused on what many are calling “human infrastructure.” If that vote fails the fourth option comes into play, which is another extension of the current law for weeks, months or years.

The next few days will be critical in the fight to make bikers a priority in our transportation system. Stay tuned and we will update you as events unfold in Washington, D.C.

MRF website at http://mrf.org

Sep 09

Best Of Times Bikernet Weekly News for September 9, 2021

By Wayfarer General Posts

It’s All Good

Remember, we’re living in the best of times, but the control freaks need more control.

Ride fast and free forever,

–Bandit

The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Motorcycle Riders Foundation

Motorcycle Riders Foundation Annual Meeting

ABATE of Michigan Annual Seminar