WV Goes to Washington DC

   Monday, October 15^th, was not the first time that WV ABATE went to Washington DC to lobby; but it was definitely the first time for three WV ABATE members, Deneen Fumich, Steve Fumich and Denyse Mogyoros,  to lobby there. All I can say is , “WOW, what an experience!” From riding the Metro, being in the MRF Office, watching a lobbyist work, meeting our Senators and Congressmen and finally having personal time with Senator Byrd, it was truly an inspirational day.

   Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice President Government Relations, escorted us to all of our appointments. Unfortunately, we did not get to speak with any of our representatives personally but met with their aids. I will say that the aids did their homework and reviewed our WV ABATE site and understood what our concerns were before we even arrived. Jeff spoke for about 10 minutes total on the following 3 issues: HIPPA Loophole, Motorcycle Safety Grants and NTSB Recommendations. Not only did he speak of the 3 issues, Jeff also asked them actions that we would like them to take. Below is a brief excerpt of what our visits were like.

    After introductions of our selves and our respective organizations, Jeff started off with the bills that lay at the Senate and House for the closing of the HIPPA Loophole. As was explained to each, an accident that could occur from any legal recreational activity did not have to be covered by insurance companies. This is particularly important to West Virginia because not only do we have the most beautiful roads to ride motorcycles but we are also a state that offers much in outdoor recreational activities through all seasons. Further it was explained to our Senators that they had passed a previous bill and would do so this time once they had heard from the House. We asked if both would be a co-sponsor to the Senate bill, S. 616,  which would be of great importance on working with the House side. I can assure that the aides were definetly supportive and would speak with the Senators. Let us hope for a good response.

      Jeff then spoke of the work that went into the Motorcycle Safety Grant and that its purpose was to be used for Motorcycle Safety Education through drivers ed, commercials, billboards, and setting up more motorcycle training courses. It appeared none of the aides were aware of this. They did ask questions which I was unable to answer at that time such as: What have we done with our grant money so far, was WV ABATE able to use any of the money and finally since the inception of the grant has WV had a decrease in motorcycle accidents? I offered to find answers to these questions for them but they said not to bother they will contact the state themselves. Jeff did ask them that in a couple years we would be needing to write in funds to continue the program and we hoped we could come back and ask for their help and co-sponsorship if needed. Again, positive replies to stop back.

     Finally, Jeff moved to the area of NTSB, National Transportation and Safety Board’s, recommendation for Mandatory Helmet use. He explained the situation as follows: “The National Transportation Safety Board has issued some recommendations to the federal government as well as some selected states in an effort to address the rising crash numbers of motorcycles.  The NTSB has engaged motorcycle safety; after only forty years of silence.  The NTSB opened its doors on April 1, 1967. Although independent, it relied on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for funding and administrative support. In 1975, under the Independent Safety Board Act, all organizational ties to DOT were severed. The NTSB is not part of DOT, or affiliated with any of its agencies.  The NTSB has investigated 124,000 aviation crashes, 10,000 surface transportation crashes (including rail, pipeline and mass transit) and, get ready for this, a whopping six motorcycle crashes.” He spent time honing in on the idea of only 6 crashes investigated. When issuing safety recommendations for most modes of transportation the NTSB relies on it's field investigators, PhD researchers and professional staff to carefully gather information and decipher what is fact from fiction. However, for this set of recommendations the NTSB relied on the tired, antiquated, already existing research on motorcycle safety, which isn't much. We at the MRF believe that motorcyclists deserve as much consideration as planes, trains, cars and pipelines. It is fact, the only new findings this lengthy but flimsy set of recommendations are based on were developed after a two day NTSB organized symposium just one year ago and the findings from investigating a paltry six crashes over the past forty years. The federal government has spoken twice to the issue mandated federal helmet laws and have twice stated that it is not the federal governments place but a state decision.” Jeff then asked if when needed would our representatives write letters to NTSB to revoke the recommendation and have NTSB work with the motorcycling communities.”      

       Finally, we received a return call from Senator Byrd’s office to return the Senate Building. From there, we were escorted to the Capital to Senator Byrd’s inner sanctum of the Appropriations Office. There we spent about 20 minutes with photo ops and just light hearted conversations. As you can read below, jeff even ad a thrill with this visit. From Michael Kerr, MRF Vice President; “Great job in Washington! Jeff has had a lot of good things to say about your states visit. I was very impressed with your meeting with Senator Byrd. Keep up the good work.” From Kirk Willard, MRF President; “Thanks Deneen and WV, I received a great report from Jeff.” And from the MRF Leaders report; “Thanks to the Mountain State! ABATE of WV recently made a trip to DC to lobby their members of the House and Senate. The Capitol Hill newbies (it was the first time lobbying DC for the group) put together a first-rate trip and had appointments with every member of the WV delegation. The three-person lobby team allowed the MRF to join them in all of their meetings. It was a successful day to say the least. The high point was meeting with the senior senator from WV, Robert Byrd. Senator Byrd has the distinction of being one of the longest serving Senators in history. He is currently the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, which puts him third in line to the Presidency should something happen to the VP and the Speaker of the House. Senator Byrd welcomed us into his palatial office suite in the Capitol, got up from his lunch of a cheese sandwich and a pickle (this guy is as humble as they come) and chatted about motorcycles for more than a few minutes. Senator Byrd has served West Virginia for over 50 years and has done the mountain state proud. Say what you will about his politics, but he has created a legacy that will stand for decades to come. Keep up the good work Senator and let the MRF know when you are ready for that motorcycle ride. Look for pictures of this meeting in the next issue of the MRF REPORTS.

    This is very easy to setup and any chapter wishing to go to DC and lobby with MRF is welcome and I would be honored in helping you and your chapter members out any time.

Deneen

State Representative, MRF

Member, Mountaineer Chapter ABATE