Legislative Update: February 2, 2006

By: Prospector

Today was the busiest day I've seen in my 10 years at the Capitol. It was Student Lobby Day and the crowds were overwhelming so I was forced to use the stairs more than once to be on time for appointments because the elevators were not up to handling the crunch. All that aside, it was also a very gratifying day.

Assemblywoman Lupardo's office informed me early on that, thanks to our efforts, they've had several calls from other members signing on as cosponsors to A8588. Later, I was able to sign on 2 more and one onto the YROW bill.

During the course of the day, I was sought out and summoned to the office of Assemblyman Marc Butler. It seems he received a letter from a constituent favoring MANDATORY rider education for all new riders and a form of tiered licensing for motorcycles as well, and his staff wanted our input before they replied to the letter. I explained the downside to these issues and they seemed satisfied with my reasoning, so I'm hopeful they will not take any action to institute such legislation. In any event, it's good to have our opinion asked and considered before any knee-jerk reaction takes place.

The Assembly Transportation Committee met for the first time today and Assemblyman Gantt's helmet bill A0070 was on the agenda, so I was there to observe, even though I knew the outcome beforehand. Despite several of our friends, including Donna Lupardo, voting against the bill, it was reported out, which, of course, was no surprise. To the best of my knowledge, there is still no Senate companion bill, but if and when one shows up we will do our best to kill it.

There is no session next Tuesday due to the holiday, so we'll have a day off, but we have a full schedule for the 28th.

Prospector's phone number is 518-239-4560