Legislative Alert February 16, 2005 - HB 450 Helmet Bill Hearing

Former Delegate George Owings who is now the Secretary of the Maryland
Department of Veterans Affairs came into the committee room prior to the
hearing commenced and exchanged pleasantries with some of the members in a
show of support as well as to do some last minute lobbying. While he was a
Delegate, we was always our primary sponsor in the House of Delegates and
has a vested interest in the outcome of this bill because he is an avid
motorcyclist.

Former Delegate Don Murphy also briefly attended the hearing, sitting in the
front row with our ABATE members to show his support and make a silent
statement to the committee.  A few years ago Mr. Murphy attended a campaign
event for Senator Brinkley in Frederick, MD. After discussing the helmet law
and motorcycles in general he and Senator Brinkley agreed to motorcycle
rides. Both the riders and the first time passengers had a memorable ride.

There were over 40 riders in attendance and occupied nearly every seat in
the committee room. Delegate Conway, the primary sponsor, began the
testimony.

Bruce Bereano followed and gave a passionate presentation filled with
statistics and in-depth information about the current law, the proposed law,
difficulties with enforcement, and inadequacies in the helmet testing
standard.  Others who testified included Gif Nichol, Kathleen Loerich, Marty
Schultz, Lee from the Christian Motorcycle Association, Pappy, Pat Corcoran,
Bill Bartos, and others.

There were three people testifying in opposition who chose to testify as a
panel. There was a Dr from the George Washington University Medical Center,
another doctor who used primarily information from National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration publications, and a third woman who testifies each
year whose testimony consisted mostly of references to the bill's fiscal
note.

A few committee members questioned these folks on the content and validity
of their testimony with Delegate Hogan and Delegate Cluster asking the most
pointed questions.

We feel positive about the outcome of the hearing, but only time will tell
when the committee votes on the bill. This should happen within one to two
weeks.

An interesting aside is the fact that the Bill Room in the Legislative
Services Building ran out of copies of HB 450. There were so many requests
for the bill that their supply has been depleted.

So if you haven't already contacted the members of the committee and your
representatives in the House of Delegates, now is the time to do so. It is
crucial to obtain a positive committee vote so we can advance the bill for a
full floor vote in the House.

Bill updates can be located via this link:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2005rs/billfile/hb0450.htm

Locate Delegates by County via this link:
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/07leg/html/gaco.html

Members of the Environmental Matters Committee are listed below.

Maggie L.McIntosh, Chair (410) 841-3990, (301) 858-3990,
e-mail: maggie_mcintosh@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore City)

James E. Malone, Jr., Vice-Chair (410) 841-3378, (301) 858-3378,
e-mail: james_malone@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore & Howard)

Rudolph C. Cane (Sponsor), (410) 841-3427, (301) 858-3427,
e-mail: rudolph_cane@house.state.md.us  (Dorchester & Wicomico)

John W. E. Cluster, Jr. (Sponsor), (410) 841-3365, (301) 848-3365,
e-mail: john_cluster@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore)

Barry Glassman (Sponsor), (410) 841-3289, (301) 858-3289,
e-mail: barry_glassman@house.state.md.us (Harford)

Patrick N. Hogan (Sponsor), (410) 841-3240, (301) 858-3240,
e-mail: patrick_n_hogan@house.state.md.us  (Frederick)

J. B. Jennings (Sponsor), (410) 841-3334, (301) 858-3334,
e-mail: jb_jennings@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore & Harford)

Tony McConkey (Sponsor), (410) 841-3223, (301) 858-3223,
e-mail: tony_mcconkey@house.state.md.us (Anne Arundel)

Rosetta C. Parker (Sponsor), (410) 841-3326, (301) 858-3326,
e-mail: rosetta_parker@house.state.md.us  (Prince George's)

Richard A. Sossi (Sponsor), (410) 841-3543, (301) 858-3543,
e-mail: richard_sossi@house.state.md.us  (Caroline, Cecil, Kent, & Queen
Anne's)

Paul S. Stull (Sponsor), (410) 841-3107, (301) 858-3107,
e-mail: paul_stull@house.state.md.us  (Frederick)

Michael H. Weir, Jr. (Sponsor), (410) 841-3328, (301) 858-3328,
e-mail: michael_weir@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore)

John S. Arnick, (410) 841-3458, (301) 858-3458,
e-mail: john_arnick@house.state.md.us  (Baltimore)

Kumar P. Barve, (410) 841-3464, (301) 858-3464,
e-mail: kumar_barve@house.state.md.us  (Montgomery)

Elizabeth Bobo, (410) 841-3205, (301) 858-3205,
e-mail: elizabeth_bobo@house.state.md.us  (Howard)

Virginia P. Clagett, (410) 841-3211, (301) 858-3211,
e-mail: virginia_clagett@house.state.md.us  (Anne Arundel)

Barbara A. Frush, (410) 841-3114, (301) 858-3114,
e-mail: barbara_frush@house.state.md.us  (Anne Arundel & Prince George's)

Tony E. Fulton, (410) 841-3030, (301) 858-3030,
e-mail: unavailable (Baltimore City)

Marvin E. Holmes, Jr., (410) 841-3098, (301) 858-3098,
e-mail: marvin_holmes@house.state.md.us (Prince George's)

Karen S. Montgomery, (410) 841-3380, (301) 858-3380,
e-mail: karen_montgomery@house.state.md.us  (Montgomery)

Joan F. Stern, (410) 841-3045, (301) 858-3045,
e-mail: joan_stern@house.state.md.us  (Montgomery)

Contact your Delegates today and ask them to vote for HB 450. If your
Delegate is one of the listed sponsors, contact them and thank them for
supporting the bill.

Address letters to:
Lowe House Office Building
84 College Ave.
Annapolis, MD 21401

Obtain information about members of the House of Delegates via this link:
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/hse.html

Locate your legislators via this link:
http://mdelect.net/

Contact your legislators via this link:
http://www.mlis.state.md.us/cgi-win/mail32.exe

ABATE of Maryland, Inc.
http://www.abate-of-maryland.org
mdabate@erols.com