OFF THE WIRE
NC Statewide Call to Action!
House Bill 392, Modify Motorcycle Helmet Requirements
Start Date: Now, April 24, 2011
End Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Level of Urgency: High
Area: Statewide, North Carolina
Issued by: Janice MacKay
Sponsoring Organizations: Bikers USA, independent bikers, and {Add your organization!}
Summary:
Janice MacKay has issued this call to action for all North Carolina motorcyclists, including groups and independents. At this time, it has NOT been escalated to a national call to action. There is a possibility of extending the end date. However, this is urgent due to much work needed before the crossover deadline.
Reason for call to action:
House Bill 392 (H392) would allow for exceptions to the mandatory helmet law, for those 18 year of age and older.
It has been in the queue of bills which need to be heard by the NC House Transportation Committee and receive a favorable report, then go back to the full chamber of the House for a 2nd and 3rd reading. If it passes the House, the bill then gets assigned to the Senate. The problem is that due to delays in transportation committee scheduling, it is quickly running out of time. There is a crossover deadline of May 12. That is a lot of hearings and readings in a short amount of time. If it fails to meet the crossover deadline, motorcyclists will not be allowed choice.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr,, "Freedom delayed is freedom denied."
Last week, primary sponsor of the bill, Rep. Kelly Hastings, (R) Cleveland, Gaston counties, requested the bill be scheduled to be heard in the transportation committee. The Rules committee chair also contacted an appropriate chair (presumably House Transportation Committee chair Rep. Iler or one of the co-chairs), to ask that it be heard. Today, Rep. Hastings, along with concerned members of the NC motorcycling community, asks for your assistance. Please use your voice to help him to help us to, finally, after 40 years of no choice helmet mandates, "Let those who ride decide!"
Actions needed (5 of them):
There are four actions needed at this time. Your help with at least two of them would be very beneficial to the cause.
Action #1 - Write a very short email message and send it to the House Transportation Committee and bill sponsors,
You can copy/paste this distribution list:
mailto:Darrell.McCormick@ncleg.net
Subject: H392 Modify Motorcycle Helmet Requirements - Please Hear the Bill.
Dear NC House Transportation Committee and sponsors of House Bill 392.
Please schedule House Bill 392 to be heard in committee and give the bill a favorable report. I am in favor of the bill.
{Also add whatever other text you like! It would be great for them to hear a variety of discussions and arguments in support of the bill. We are all experts on different subject matter, so if your strength is speaking of legal issues, tourism/business issues, freedom issues, or safety issues, choose whatever you feel most comfortable with. If you cannot think of any other words to add, being brief is fine! Be civil but assertive.}
{Your name}
{Either your address or just your city/town or your House District # if you know it}
{Your phone number if you ask to be contacted}
Action #2 - While waiting until Monday night, to take action #3, make like Paul Revere by spreading the word to others, urging them to join you in this action.
Action #3 - FLOOD THE VOICEMAIL SYSTEM. MONDAY NIGHT.
Take this action sometime between Monday night, after 7pm and 8pm Tuesday morning.
When the legislators and their assistants arrive on Tuesday morning, it would be good if their voicemal is full of message in favor or House Bill 392.
The other reason for this is that it will only take you a minute or two to dial the phone and leave a message. That way you can contact all the House Transportation committee members lickety split! If you prefer to call and speak to a person rather than leave a voicemail message, it might take you triple the time, but feel free to do so. It's nicer, but takes longer. Whatever you say is up to you, but please be sure to let them know you support H392 or favor H392, and that it is the bill about motorcycle helmet choice for adults.
Tip: Call them while you are at the computer. Keep the list of House Transportation Committee members open. From there, you can click on each member and bring up their bio as well as phone number. If you notice something in their background, such as military history, or profession, you might ad lib, such as "I see that you were in the military. I want the troops to come home to a land that has more liberty than when they left."
Action #4 - Follow-up and feedback.
Check the Friends of BOLT website for any follow-up actions which can help the cause..
Friends of BOLT allows posting of calls to action and follow-up information, so we'll get something posted. You might also check the Carolinas Full Throttle Magazine, both the online site and/or the printed magazine which appears in all your favorite biker-friendly locations.
Action #5 - When you have some time, write or call the bills primary sponsors and co-sponsors, and any representatives who speak favorably on the bill and let them know of your appreciation! These people are our employees, so treat them like respected employees and we might get better results.
Further actions anticipated soon
If the transportation committee schedules the bill, visiting Raleigh while the bil is in committee would be terrific. That's why we need to stay in communication about the bills progress. If the committee favors the bill, we'll need people to watch and see if it gets scheduled for the 2nd reading in the House. If so, it would be good to have motorcyclists in the gallery. If you have to choose one or the other, the committee is most important. Let's cross this bridge first, and get it passed in the committee and in the house, then we'll work on the Senate. After that, if the bill is enacted, we made need to issue a national call to action in order to convince Governor Perdue to sign it into law.
In freedom,
jan
