Lobbyist Report February 2023

It is now Mid February and our 2023 legislative is in full swing. On January 24th. Senator Pittman (Dem.) and Senator Kloose (Rep.) Introduced a profiling Bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee, SB 108. This bill is very well written and it's great to have bipartisan sponsorship. We are now trying to get a hearing on this bill. I have spoken with Senator Steffens (Rep.) who sits on the Judiciary Committee. I am hoping he will move this forward to a hearing for us.
We are also working towards a bill on the definition of a motorcycle. The way the current statute is written it includes autocycles as motorcycles. Example Polaris Slingshot. The driver of a Autocycle is not required to have a M endorsement on their drivers license and passengers under the age of 18 do not have to have to wear a hemet. That means their accident data ends up in the motorcycle database which is not good for us. I have not found a legislator wanting to take this on, but have talked with several who have expressed interest.

On January 29th. We held our annual Bikers Under The Dome at the state capitol. The event was well attended by ABATE, COC, and The MRF. The MRF lobbyist from Washington D.C. was there to help rally this event on, thank you Rocky Fox. There were about 45 people from all different areas in attendance at the event. Almost all of them reached out to their personal legislators. This is a great way to inform them about ABATE and their motorcyclist concerns.

I would also like to thank Bretz Injury Law for sponsoring our legislators and their staff lunch. We provided 80 box lunches and that was not enough. We had a lot of legislators and their staff come down for lunch. It was great to see them come down for lunch, visit with us and take part in our event. Again Thank You Bretz Injury Law for Lunch. While I am passing out Thank You’s. Thank You RC for getting us the TV PSA with WIBW about our event.

On February 10th. The Republican Convention was held in Topeka at the Capitol Hotel. Myself, Tammy, Byron H. Lori H. and Sis attended this convention. I felt it was a success on our behalf. There was a lot of conversation between us and our legislators and their staff. There were legislators and staff from both the state and federal level pr CC CCesent. Most of the conversation was about issues the motorcyclist faces.

On February 24th. The democrats will be holding their convention in Topeka at The Downtown Ramada on Friday night. Again several of us will be attending. We again will be visiting with our Democratic legislators about our concerns. ABATE will be hosting a table with finger foods, snacks and beverages.

As we move forward this legislative session, I would like to Thank Jimbo with Kansas COC. for all of his and the COC help on achieving goals, we all face the same issues. They have contributed a lot of good thought, concerns and suggestions to help everyone achieve goals to benefit all motorcyclists.

If you have any legislative concerns please feel free to reach out to me or Tammy anytime. Our contact info is your newsletter.

Respectfully

ABATE OF KS. Lobbyist / V.P.

Tony Railsback