KILL SENATE BILL 040!
By Tim Anderson
There is no polite way to put it, so let’s just put it out there: Senate Bill 040 introduced by State Senator Lois Tochtrop is a poorly conceived and ill-considered piece of legislation that should be stopped cold. Killed, if you prefer.
On it’s face, this appears as a fairly innocuous piece of legislation that would take money out of the Colorado Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) fund for an alleged, but undeveloped, “awareness fund”; allegedly reign in supposedly inappropriate expense reimbursements being paid out by MOST; and make training more affordable by capping the tuition rider training schools can charge students.
This is not the case.
One doesn’t have to read the bill too closely to realize there is something unseemly at the heart of SB-040. Thankfully, the House Transportation Committee saw that, and began asking questions—something the Senate failed to do when they let the bill sail through that body.
The combined efforts of the US Defenders, the Coalition Of Independent Riders (COIR) and independent riding schools have forced a hard look into the bill. The harder this bill is looked at, the fewer answers its supporters seem to have. The bill is being pushed by ABATE of Colorado and a couple of rider schools loosely affiliated with them…and not really anyone else. CDOT, which has responsibility for MOST funds, and should be intimately involved with the proposed changes, was not even at the hearing. This makes us wonder, does CDOT really even know anything about this bill?
ABATE and MOST representatives actually showed their hubris by telling committee members CDOT was “apolitical” and did not take positions on legislation. The buzz-saw of comments from the committee members in response to that comment made it clear CDOT had a responsibility to be present, and that they had a responsibility to be available to respond to legislators' questions about the bill.
What business would actually want to impose a cap on what it can charge for a service? That is just bad business, unless, you are a member & grant supported non-profit with a large training business looking to get larger. It is not the purpose of the legislature to interfere in private industry except enforce safety standards and prevent monopolies & usery. Tuition caps might well hurt private schools that do a fine job. What’s the point of that?
MOST makes reimbursements to training facilities—that is one of its stated purposes. Narrowly restricting who gets those reimbursements, and for what expenses, only benefits the operators supporting the bill. Almost certainly there will be no benefit to students. What’s more, those reimbursements are already closely monitored. Again, what is the point?
The MOST fund is created by Colorado motorcyclists. We pay into it every time we register a bike or keep an MC endorsement. The fund is for training purposes, and is reserved by statute for that purpose. It is not supposed to be raided. The idea of putting 5% of the total MOST fund into a new and different fund for an unplanned program, with no accountable administrator, is irresponsible as best.
To be fair, proponents of the bill say the plan “may” put signs at intersections deemed dangerous to motorcyclists. “May” is not a plan. All intersections are dangerous to all vehicles. And think about it, would you rather have the cage drivers paying attention to traffic and actually looking for motorcycles at intersections, or reading a sign about it that “may,” or may not, be there? There are far more effective ways to raise motorist awareness of motorcycles than this, without damaging the rider ed program in the process.
This is a convoluted and confusing issue for those not familiar with the details. In short, SB-040 will do little or no good for the motorcyclists of Colorado, while using them for the money they generate to benefit a very few organizations.
We appreciate the hard work of the House Transportation Committee. It is tiring and thankless. We hope the members lighten their load a little by just killing SB-040. It is a bad bill, serving no beneficial purpose to the motorcyclists of Colorado. Kill the bill.
