I am back from the Washington trip and have my computer back, today is good. The DC trip went well and was very productive got to talk to several of the congress people or their staff on the issues that we were involved with. Which is HR1253 the HIPAA bill that makes the health insurance co. tell us up front that they are not going to cover our injuries if we are involved in an motorcycle accident. This way we do not pay for years just to find out we are not covered. The bill has to pass the senate next and like in Mo. It will need the Pres. Signature. HR20567 is the right to repair act where we are trying to make the info and codes public so we or a mom and pop shop can fix our bike. It is starting to gain momentum but we still need cosponsors and you to contact your legislators and push for this bill. HR1587 is about the kids bikes and the consumer product safety not allowing dealers to sell those bikes because of the lead in the wheel weights and leavers. Right now there is a temporary repeal of the order but 1587 would make a exemption for the off highway vehicles permanent. The other thing on the agenda was to keep motorcycles part of the smart roads and vehicles, so we don’t get forgotten or fall through the cracks and not be allowed on the roadways.

Just like in our state someone from home needs to go and talk to them and introduce the lobbyist so there can get their foot in the door. The MRF needs the same help in Washington that we give here in our capitol. Thank you all for letting me be a part of this and hope that the next time the MRF sends out the call for some help we can answer with the help needed.

For those of you where not at the CC meeting I have some good news. Comparative fault did pass with the bill HB481, so it will take effect August 28^th. This is huge for all motorcyclists and everybody else they just don’t know it yet.

Saturday I will be leaving for Washington D.C. to lobby on our behalf about a challenge to put the helmet blackmail back on transportation money and other issues at the federal level. I will be gone till Wednesday evening. Also while I am gone my computer goes to the shop for some serious work to stop the crashing going on. I do not know how long they will have it , but I will send out mail when I get it back.

One of the things you all need to be thinking about is the election of new officers for FORR. Hopefully there will be a choice of candidates this time, so if you have not been thinking about it, it is time.

Now that I have had time to think some more we need to start working on the veto session. I know that it is a long shot but we are used to that. If the legislatures do not vote on party lines we could pull this off. I have already had a representative say that he will make the motion to repeal the veto so let’s try to back him up.

What needs to be done is contacting your rep. and senator and see if they will vote to override the veto. Then get that info back to me so I can make sure we have enough to back the rep and senator who make the motion. I cannot count on past votes because this could come down to party lines. Hopefully the governor has upset enough of the represenitives and senators, that we can pull this off.

You can find all the contact info on our web site forr.net .

This is to make you aware that Governor Nixon has vetoed SB202 (Comparative Fault & Helmet Modification).

There are other bills that we are watching and will make you aware of the outcome when we know. 

Below is the veto letter that Governor Nixon wrote explaining why he vetoed it. 

Thank you,
Dallas Chapman
General Office Manager

I got bad news today. The Governor vetoed SB202 citing the same old crap as the other liar did almost word for word.

I do feel we need to let him know how we feel about this and how we will work very hard to make sure he doesn’t get reelected. I guess they forgot Chuck Graham.

There are a lot of things that just changed in our program and we will need to set up for next year and see which way we can go. The planning meeting will be on Saturday July 11^th at 1: pm and I will need your input on how we should proceed next year.

Friday was another good day; the governor finally got all of the passed bills sent to his desk. Among them was SB202 and a host of other bills. The 45 day started Friday and ends Monday July 13^th. As you know by now he has three actions open to him. The governor can sign, veto or pocket the bill and just let it become law on its own.

As you also know the opposition has not let up with their negative view and urging the governor to veto our bill. There are many polls out there trying to keep this in the forefront of the public. The one thing they are leaving out is that this is a fight to get back a freedom. A freedom we lost when government decided it needed more control. People do not realize when we win they win also. Keep up the fight; it is your rights we are fighting for.

There is another online poll at the site for the Warrensburg “Daily Star-Journal”  The poll is located on the left side of the screen:  Should Gov. Jay Nixon veto legislation to allow helmet free motorcycle riding?

http://www.dailystarjournal.com/

 Thanks to Sam, Local 33

Those of who do not know that MoDot director Pete Rahn had a press release today at a Jeff City Emergency room and came out against SB202 and asked the Governor to Veto the bill. Senator Kurt Schaefer was also Quoted “This is another example of an unelected bureaucrat attempting to set state policy” Schaefer said “It is the job of the General Assembly to establish the laws of the state and the job of the governor to sign the laws he agrees with”. As you can figure out we need to call or write the governor’s office again. Contact him at www.governor.mo.gov or 573-751-3222.

Mark sent out a press release of which a copy is below.

May 20, 2009

"By a nine to one ratio, Missourians know this simple fact:  motorcycle helmets save lives," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said in a press recent release. That's the ratio by which Missourians support the state law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets according to a new telephone survey. 

Really, 9 to 1. That is news to me! I wonder just who was called on this telephone survey. It certainly was not me and I would guess that none of the over 3000 members of Freedom of Road Riders received a call either. It is easy to spew out percentages when you do not have to back them up with actual numbers and the demographics required for the survey. Just how many people were called? Did they all work for MoDOT?

If you asked the membership of my organization whether the use of a helmet should be mandatory I would bet that 90% would say “I think it should be my decision not the governments.”

Another thing, as long as I have lived in Missouri (47 years) I have NEVER been contacted for a survey by anyone regarding the use of helmets.

Oh by the way, just who asked for this survey and who authorized the expenditure of the funds to pay for it?

He failed to mention that scooters and moped accidents are included in the statistics for motorcycle accidents. He also failed to mention that the number of registered motorcycles increased.

Did he tell you of the 523 deaths (from 2003 to 2008) what was the actual cause of death?

Did anyone ask him what percentage that was of the total highway deaths for those years?

I wish I could spout out the percentages like Mr. Rahn but the sources of his information are not given. Ask yourself this “If a scientist put out info like this wouldn’t the rest of the scientific community demand to see the data and resources it was based on?”

It is high time the people of Missouri quit accepting government sources as gospel. Until I see for myself the data on which the percentages that Mr. Rahn quoted is based. I doubt you will convince me to give up my (or the other 3000 members’) pursuit of freedom of choice.

Sincerely,

Mark Chapman,

Chairman: Freedom of Road Riders®

As of Friday morning one of our members let me know that only 55 people had called in asking that SB202 become law.  What we did not find out was how many against.

As you have heard many news reports are against us and are giving us some bad press. Also the same people that testify against us are sending out mass emails to their people to send in letter against us. This is a contest to see who can put together the most support for or against.

If you want it now is the time to let your voice be heard.

Tuesday is our capitol crusader day and a very important one at that. Even though we got our bill through the legislature the battle is not over. We need to thank those that helped and supported us and show them that we really care. Then we need to show the governor and lt. gov. that we really want this to become law.

Contact info below

Governor www.governor.mo.gov 573-751-3222   fax573-751-1588

Lt. Governor www.ltgov.mo.gov  573-751-4686   fax 573-751-9422

You can also ask your rep or senator to ask the governor to let this become law.

OK folks,

The opposition to SB 202 has started, I received word today that the opposition is asking for people to contact the Governor and ask for him to veto SB202.

If you want our comparative fault and helmet mod bill to become law NOW is the time to take action.

Here is what I would like for you to do:

Contact the Governor and Lieutenant Governor using the links below.

You, your friends and neighbors should to go to www.governor.mo.gov/constituents/  for the Governor and www.ltgov.mo.gov/question.htm for the Lieutenant Governor.

Fill out the form the subject would be legislation.

Then simply ask for SB202 to become law.

That is all there is to it, I did it and it took about 2 minutes. 

As always thanks for your support,

Mark Chapman,
Central Committee Chairman: Freedom of Road Riders, Inc.

Could not sleep so I thought I would explain some things. SCS/SB202 is the comparative fault and helmet modification bills all in one. We have an agreement with the Governor that he will not sign the bill but will let it set on his desk and become law anyway. The only stipulation was that it could not have a bunch of other stuff attached. We have done our part; this is as clean a bill as I have seen in a long time. What we need to do is encourage him to allow SCS/SB202 to become law. If he does this the effective date would be August 28^th. Even if he would sign it it would still be august 28^th.

The reason I need you to contact the Lt. Governor is that if the governor goes’ out of state then the Lt. Gov takes over and could sign our bill, and I think he would (that’s not a positive but just my feeling). Besides this way we have covered all the bases.

As soon as they post the journal I will put the yes and no lists on the web page so you can thank those who helped us and remember those who did not come election time.

For those of you who do not know we passed out of the House tonight 93 yes 62no and no amendments. We need to thank Rep. Gary Dusenberg he worked his ass off for us (gary.dusenberg@house.mo.gov ) or 573-751-1487.

The next step is the governor desk, of which we are supposed to have an agreement with the governor. But to hedge our bet I need you to call and email him starting tomorrow. The ways to do that are www.governor.mo.gov  or 573-751-3222 or you can fax him at 573-751-1588 Please be nice I would hate to give him an excuse to veto it. Also we need to contact the Lieutenant Gov. Peter Kender just in case our Gov. steps out of town. Kender’s contacts are www.ltgov.mo.gov  573-751-4686 or fax 573-751-9422.

I want to thank you all for your support and dedication win or lose we have already won a great battle.

Today Rep. Steven put SCS/SB202 on the calendar for Monday. Now that doesn’t mean we will be debated Monday, but they will be back in session at 4pm.

Now for what needs to be done. You need to contact your representative and ask for their help keeping amendments off 202. This is going to be real hard to do, seeing as how 202 is about the only thing moving right now. Also there are some reps. that know why we are trying to keep it clean (so we do not have to go back to the senate) and will use this chance to try and kill the bill. It doesn’t matter why they want to attach, we just have to stop it. Stay upbeat when you talk to then always positive.

The budget still is not finished and it could slow the process down, so do not get discouraged there is still three weeks till the end of session.

SB202 came out of the Rules committee last night with a vote of 10-2.

It will be delivered to Ron Richard today who will then pass it on to Steve Tilley, Majority Floor Leader.

This is great news!

Way to go folks I got an answer from Speaker Ron Richard, he will let our bill go through. Thank you and now you can stop making the phone calls, until the next time. Now onward and upward. SCS/SB202 will be heard in the rules committee tonight after the house session is over. With any luck they will vote it out tonight (I know I am asking a lot) and then it is on to the floor. Also we got some more good news today Representative Dusenberg will be handling our bill on the floor of the house.

I will let you know tomorrow what happened or you can check their web site at  www.house.mo.gov for the latest updates.

First I want to thank you for your calls to the speaker of the house. Second I need you to continue calling sending e mails until I let you know we can stop. Rep Ron Richard dist. 129 573-751-2173 or Ronald.Richard@house.mo.gov  fax 573-526-5813 and at home 417-623-0022.

The next thing on my list is that the Bikers United For Rights run is the 25^th of this month. This is a show of support ride for those legislators that have supported us. For a flier you can go to www.forr.net and click on the flier on the home page.

In a surprise move today Representative Bryan Stevenson 128 (Chairman of the judiciary committee) told us the he will be representing our bill SCS/SB202 on the floor when it comes out of the rules committee. As he is the chair of the committee he has that right. He feels that it will be best for the bill and assured me that he will fight hard to keep our bill clean. Rep. Stevenson has been a good friend and has our best interests at heart. For those of you in his district and those not I hope you will let him know we support him in this endeavor.

On another subject the AMA has asked for our help on two different things.

1.       Is on a park in the St. Joe area

2.       Is some corrections and the BUFR ride

To find out more on this and other AMA subjects please go to www.forr.net then click on AMA.

And last but not least Mark is doing better and may get to home tomorrow. All hose and wires are accounted for and out of his body so he has a chance now.

We have already been assigned to the Rules committee. by the house journal.  Remember the legislators will be home this weekend that makes it easy for you to talk to them face to face.

It has been a good day and we need to thank the members of the judiciary committee that voted yes. I will not have the official version until tomorrow but we were voted out if committee 8yes an 2 no.

Now on to the next step on the ladder. We need to get in contact with people that are on the rules committee and ask them to send SCS/SB202 out as quickly as possible. We only have 5 weeks left in this session and still have to through a debate on vote on the floor of the house.  The committee members are:

Parson 133 yes Chair mike.parson@house.mo.gov ,
Cox 118 yesV. C. Stanley.cox@house.mo.gov,
Burnett yes 40 john.burnett@house.mo.gov ,
Calloway 71?? Don.calloway@house.mo.gov ,
Jones yes 117  kenny.jones@house.mo.gov ,
Munzliger yes 1 brian.munzlinger@house.mo.gov ,
Pratt yes 55 bryan.pratt@house.mo.gov ,
Talboy yes 37 mike.talboy@house.mo.gov ,
Tilley yes 106 steven.tilley@house.mo.gov ,
Webber ?? 23 stephen.webber@house.mo.gov ,
Wilson yes 119 larry.wilson@house.mo.gov
and Zimmerman no 83 jake.zimmerman@house.mo.gov .

If you need to know contact numbers or address on any of the other legislators all you need to do is go to www.forr.net then click on the legislative page go down to Representative click and find yours and all contact info we have.

For those of you that think somebody else will make the calls and somebody else will be there. You need to know the representative’s offices are receiving a lot of mail against the helmet modification and none for, according to two of my sources. If you want it you have to do it yourself nobody is going to do it for you. Now is your big chance to be a hero to yourself because it is you that matters when you look in the mirror.

This Wednesday at noon we have a hearing on SCS/SB202. The hearing room is directly across from the cafeteria in the basement. I sure hope you called or got in touch with your representative because it is game time.

If you did not have a rep. on the committee then it is now time for you to get in touch with them, because if everything goes well we will be on the floor of the house soon.

The AMA has sent out an urgent call to action. Rather than put on this message as an attachment go to the forr web page and click on the AMA report. Here is a link to our web site www.forr.net

Please check it out

(CLICK HERE to go straight to the Call To Action document)