Unfortunately, the House saw fit to water the bill down top such a state that it only applied to teenage drivers. That is all well and good, but the last several drivers that could not maintain their speed or lane position near my bike were definitely not teenage drivers. The House version would do nothing about the majority of the people who are ignoring the road while they operate their mobile offices. As you have probably discerned from my language, just like many of you, I do not agree with this dilution of a good bill that can save an innocent rider from getting killed or maimed by being cut off or run over.

The Senate agrees with us on this issue, and refuses to concur with the House amendments. We have been asked to lend our voices to the call for the House to recede from their version and agree to the Senate version. Riders need to contact their representatives as soon as possible and ask them to protect the innocent motoring public from the irresponsible operators by restoring (SSB 6345) to it’s original Senate version. To locate your representative go to http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx and follow the instructions. Lets let our voices be heard and get this fixed.

Until next time,

Ride Safe and Legislate Well,

“Texas” Larry Walker

Government Relations Specialist

Washington Road Riders Association

wrraleg@aol.com

I am currently working on getting in with the committee chair which will consider the bill, along with the members of the committee.  I will get the talking points to everyone this evening, but riders are advised to get ready to call their legislators.

Texas Larry Walker
WRRA Government Relations.

Here is the latest update on the proposed legislation to eliminate the Washington State Motorcycle Safety and Education Advisory Board (WMSAB).

Wednesday morning I got to meet briefly with Robin Arnold-Williams, the Director of Executive Policy from the Office of Financial Management. She is one of the senior policy advisors to the Governor. I reminded her that the operation of our board, indeed the entire program, was outside the general fund or the transportation fund, paid for strictly by the endorsement fees that we pay into the dedicated fund specifically set aside for that purpose.

Her take was that they were so concerned about cost saving that the policy personnel were even looking into the cost of the staff and supplies needed to conduct board business. I assured her that the staff was also funded through our endorsement fees. She indicated that she would look into the issue further. I fully intend to ensure that the budget figures are on her desk by the first part of next week.

Following that conversation I continued over to Department of Licensing (DOL) to start the process of capturing the data. While I was there I was pulled into a meeting with the Assistant Director concerning the WMSAB. This was a result of an E-mail that I had sent to Director Luce apprising her of the proposed demise of the board. She was not in her office, but she assigned the issue enough importance to forward my message to the AD. The agency places an amazing amount of value on the constituent feedback on our program. No matter where our conversation went that was an over-arching theme. They want a quality, codified method of communication between the stake holders and the agency.

Ya gotta love that.

Here are the bullets you need to capture when you call and/or write to your representatives or the Governor’s office.

• The WMSAB is absolutely invisible to the general fund or transportation fund portion of the budget. The funding stream is a completely separate, and dedicated, fund that with no impact on the regular budgets. It is our money being used for our program, at our request. In short, we are not a contributing part of the budget crisis.
• The WMSAB provides one of the most effective venues for communication of the wants, wishes, and concerns of the riding community directly into the heart of the agency that manages the program. This level of communication and cooperation is absolutely vital to the continued health of the program.
• The program, and all aspects thereof, are known throughout the nation as a model program to be emulated. It isn’t broken, so there is no need to fix it.

Let’s get those cards, letters, and phone calls going so that we can nip this in the bud, and I’ll see you at the motorcycle show.

Texas

“Texas ” Larry Walker
Government Relations Specialist
Washington Road Riders Association
wrraleg@aol.com
360-271-9285