Local 6 members,
Being Politically Challenged, I will try, to the best of my ability, to make an explanation to you of where SB 435 is, and where it is going.
Due to you and your letters and calls and our Lobbyist and all of the signatures on the protest petitions and other organizations and freelance protestors, Senator Pavely trimmed SB 435 to where it no longer contained the parts on Smog Check, Noise tickets, Would not affect any bike unless it was manufactured after 2011, Grandfathered in any bike currently on the road, lessened the fine from $300 to a $25 fix-it ticket.
Pavely wanted to make a deal with ABATE that she would leave the bill like this, IF ABATE agreed to go "neutral" on the bill, meaning to not protest it, or promote it from this point on. Our Lobbyist sent out a requst to all of the ABATE PAC members, and asked if they wanted to go for this "neutral" agreement. The majority of the PAC members agreed, So ABATE agreed to not protest the bil from here on UNLESS IT IS CHANGED SOMEHOW BEFORE IT GOES TO THE GOVERNORS OFFICE. This agreement, does not keep you or I from personally calling or sending mail to anyone to protest the bill. The vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee then passed by a vote of 8 yes and 4 no. Many people in and out of our organization are unhappy about this "neutral" stance, but it was voted on by our PAC Committee members
I believe the next steps are for the bill to go to the Appropriations Committee where they figure out how much the bill will cost the State to implement.
Next it will go to the full Senate, and the full Assembly where it will be will need to be discussed and voted on. If any change is made to the bill, then ABATE will be back in their face. We will be kept notified about what is going on as the bill passes from office to office. You can watch it from day to day on the ABATE website at abate.org. If the bill makes it thru all of these steps, then it will be sent to the Governor for a yes or no with his signature.
Have any questions ? Give me a phone call and I will try my best to answer them.
John Del Santo
( 619 ) 223-0421
