Bill To Repeal MOST Program Filed
A bill to kill Colorado’s Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) Program was filed January 19, 2012, in the Colorado State Senate.
The bill, Senate Bill 12-089, effectively repeals the 1990 legislative action that created the MOST program if passed.
MOST was created and passed to encourage motorcyclist participation in rider training and education classes primarily by offering rebates or discounts to students taking the classes. A $2 fee paid by motorcyclists each time they renew their motorcycle endorsement, and a $4 fee assessed annually to each motorcycle registration funds the program.
In addition to putting an end to the Most Program, SB 12-089 repeals the assessment of all fees assessed upon motorcyclists to fund the program.
The Bill Summary reads, “The bill repeals the motorcycle operator safety training program administered by the office of transportation safety in the department of transportation and repeals all license and registration fees imposed to fund the program.”
That means each motorcycle registration should be $4 less each year, and the additional $2 charged for having a motorcycle endorsement will go away.
In the senate, where the bill was introduced, the bill is sponsored by Senators Renfroe, Cadman, Grantham, Harvey, Lambert, Lundberg, Mitchell, Neville, Roberts, Scheffel, and Spence.
Representatives Holbert, and Sonnenberg are sponsoring the bill in the House.
That SB 12-089 has been filed is no surprise. Questions have surrounded the Most Program and its administration for some time. A State Auditor’s report released in September 2011 (story online at www.scooternews.net) revealed what the report termed “significant problems” with MOST and how it is run.
The audit report is available on line at www.scooternews.net.
According to the audit report, problems reach into how the MOST Program is managed, how reimbursements are handled, and how the program’s effectiveness is measured. The audit went on to question whether the program is needed any longer, citing the availability of training programs.
Some legislators have openly, and privately questioned what has been going on with MOST, particularly since the audit revealed so many irregularities.
The Colorado Department of Transportation oversees the program, and it is specifically managed by Glenn Davis, who assumes those duties as part of his role as Manager of Impaired Driving Programs with CDOT.
Since the release of the audit, Davis and CDOT have reportedly taken steps to correct problems, including a series of meetings with “stakeholders”—or riding schools participating in the MOST Program.
This may all be too little too late for the program. The bill has support among some of the riding schools participating in MOST, in addition to groups of motorcyclists, which see the program as mismanaged and prone to favoritism, and/or corruption of sorts.
The Colorado Confederation of Clubs has come out strongly in favor of killing MOST, and officially supports SB 12-089. The Coalition Of Independent Riders (COIR) and US Defenders have also thrown their support behind SB 12-089.
“There has been a lot of talk about making changes,” explained Wiz, Vice President of the Colorado Confederation of Clubs and Colorado Commander of the US Defenders, “but it appears more of an attempt at keeping the status quo rather than making any real change. So far, we’ve seen nothing proposed that would lead to the kind of change that’s needed. Unless there are changes that clean up the program and treat all the schools the same, the MOST program should go away. The legislation to end the program has been introduced, and we absolutely support it.”
SB-12-089 has been assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee. No hearing date has been made available as of this writing.
The text of the bill as it was filed is available online at www.scooternews.net.
