SOONER STATE ABATE SENTINEL Sooner State Abate Vol 5 Issue 1 | Page 8

Sooner State ABATE Sentinel - Volume 5 Issue 1
Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs Liaison Report
September 2018
Hello, Friends! It’s good to be back in a part of Oklaho-
ma where we don’t usually experience as big a problem
with Motorcyclist Profiling. Attendees of the July Okla-
homa Confederation of Clubs Meeting in Pryor probably
noticed SEVEN Police Cruisers from several jurisdictions
parked across from the American Legion Post where
the meeting took place. They were augmented by other
assets, both on the highway and in the air! I wonder how
many thousands of Tax Dollars were wasted to provide
that Surveillance? I’m very thankful nothing even close to
what happened in Waco materialized! Hopefully, none of
our OKCOC Members we’re stopped and ticketed or ha-
rassed. If you were, I want to remind you to go to Sooner
State ABATE’s Home Page at: www.soonerstateabate.
com and click on the Motorcyclist Profiling link button to
report if you’ve been Profiled. Enter as much descriptive
information as you can on the incident (even if you just
THINK you’ve been Profiled) and submit it. The account-
ing will go directly to the OKCOC and Sooner State
ABATE, and we’ll get attorneys involved!
We are looking at our legislative strategy for 2019
Session, which starts the first week of February. As I
mentioned at the July meeting, chief among our efforts
will be a renewed attempt at outlawing Motorcyclist
Profiling. We also intend to pursue legislation increasing
penalties for Right-of-Way Violators and impose felony
charges for Egregious Vehicular Homicide. These are
just a few of the directions we can take, so PLEASE
let the OKCOC and Sooner State ABATE know of your
ideas and suggestions. For example, one of our mem-
bers suggested we investigate filing a “Lane Filtering”
Bill, where bikes can continue in gridlocked traffic. This
can be easily done, since we have legislative modeling
of similar bills filed in states such as Missouri. We’ll have
more definitive information to provide at the November
OKCOC Meeting in Lawton, as Sooner State ABATE
solidifies bill suggestions and contacts potential authors
and co-sponsors. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Be sure you’re
Registered to VOTE, and take the time to get yourselves,
your friends and loved ones to the Polls during the
General Election, which takes place Tuesday, November
6, 2018. We’re all going to play a part in electing Okla-
homa’s Congressional Delegation, a new Governor, and
State Representatives and Senators. We’re also going to
elect people to staff key positions such as State Attorney
General who, if he can be convinced, can be a powerful
force to help eliminate Motorcyclist Profiling. Thanks to
Term Limiting, over half the Legislature will consist of
new arrivals!
There are many newly-elected officials that we’ll need
to enlist as friends, so it’s critical that we have a large
turnout of Motorcycling Community members at our 2019
OKCOC Legislative M.E.A.L. (Motorcyclists Educating
and Affecting Legislation) lobbying events. They are
scheduled for Thursday, February 21, 2019, and Thurs-
day, May 16, 2019, at the State Capitol Second Floor
Rotunda, starting at 9:00 am. There are going to be a
LOT of new faces in the State House, so our Riding
Community needs to make new friends to defend our
Liberties! The current turmoil regarding the rules for
Medical Marijuana is a perfect example of how eternal
vigilance is required after voting on key issues. We’ll
have M.E.A.L. flyers to hand out soon, and Legislative
Updates will be available at www.okcoc.com and www.
soonerstateabate.com, so keep checking the Websites!
Meeting our new Governor will afford us the opportunity
to emphasize the importance of continuing to issue a
Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month for May-one
of Sooner State ABATE’s favorite tasks! So, we look
forward to getting that issu
All preparations have been made for the 27th annual
Mid-South M.I.L.E. (Motorcyclists Improving Legis-
lative Effectiveness) Seminars, being held October
19-21, 2018 at the Sheraton Reed Conference Center
in Midwest City OK. The six state Motorcyclist Rights
Organizations from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Louisi-
ana, Missouri, and Arkansas will be hosting educational
presentations, along with the AMA, MRF, NCOM, and
MAG-Belgium, which will be covering a Global Update.
We’re going to have seminars put on by Oklahoma DOT,
on Veterans’ Rights and Benefits, Motorcycle Accident
Scene Management, Leadership, how MROs Work, and
how MROs and CoC’s can work together in unity. We’re
also going to have a Banquet and Auction on Saturday
Night. Pre-Registration flyers are available online, so
PLEASE make plans to attend! Check out the Sooner
State ABATE Website, and www.midsouthmile.org for
more information and an event agenda. Come on out
and join us!
We are also publicizing the NCOM Region 2 Confer-
ence being held Saturday, November 17, 2018 in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center.
As previously mentioned, we are planning for a full slate
of educational and informative presentations, including
a regional MRO Legislative Forum, Multi-State COC
Meeting, and a Christian Unity get-together. PLEASE
make plans to take part if you can and go to the NCOM
Website at: www.onabike.com for more information. The
week prior to this, I’ll be in Nashville, TN for the NCOM
Semi-Annual Board of Directors Meeting November 9-11.
We are setting up seminar topics and speakers, logistics,
and Silver Spoke Award recipients at the 34th Annual
NCOM Convention, scheduled for May 9-12, 2019 at the
Hilton Doubletree Resort in Orlando, FL. I’ll have LOTS
more information over the next few months.
Finally, SSA’s Central Oklahoma District Outpost has
changed its meeting dates, time and location. We’ll be
meeting the THIRD SUNDAY of the month, starting 3:00
pm at S&B’s Burger Joint on Douglas Blvd. in Midwest
City, OK. COD’s annual Veterans’ Day Run to the Okla-
homa State Capitol will be held Sunday, November 11,
2018, leaving out of American Legion Post #73, 5000
S.E. 24th Street In Del City. The Legionnaires will serve
a good breakfast at reasonable cost starting at 9:00
am, and the Bike Parade will depart promptly at 10:15
am for the Oklahoma State House and the State War
Memorial, in time for the 11:00 am Services Start. After
the Veterans’ Day Ceremonies are concluded, attendees
are cordially invited back to Legion Post #73 for a FREE
Hot Dog Cookout. PLEASE make plans to join us! If you
can’t, take some time to honor the Service of our Military
and Veterans, Past AND Present! They’ve dedicated
their lives to keep us Free. Thanks for listening, continue
to Ride Free and Safely, and I’ll see you on the Road
November 2018
Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters! November was
momentous for Oklahoma and for the Nation, as we
exercised our Right to Vote at the Polls on Tuesday,
November 6. The results of these Elections are going to
have significant impact on our future, both on the State
and National Level. No matter what your Party affiliation,
I hope you researched the issues very carefully, and took
the time to VOTE when the polls opened at 7:00 AM!
The new contacts we make at the State House after the
Election will ideally assist us in our campaign to improve
Quality of Life for Oklahoma Motorcyclists-especially with
our goal of eliminating Motorcyclist Profiling. In that vein,
I want to again remind you to visit Sooner State ABATE’s
Home Page at: www.soonerstateabate.com and to click
on the Motorcyclist Profiling link button at the top of the
page to report if you’ve been Profiled. Enter as much
descriptive information as you can on the incident (even
if you just THINK you’ve been Profiled) and submit it.
The accounting of the event will go directly to the OK-
COC and Sooner State ABATE, and we’ll get attorneys
involved. We critically need this type of information to
provide database support for passage of an Anti-Profiling
Bill during the 2019 Legislative Session.
We are finalizing our legislative strategy for the 2019
Session, which starts the first week of February. As I
just mentioned, our primary effort will be a renewed
attempt at outlawing Motorcyclist Profiling. We are still
also looking at legislation addressing several Motor-
cycling Liberty issues such as increasing penalties for
Right-of-Way Violators, and imposing felony charges for
Egregious Vehicular Homicide, and a “Lane Filtering” bill
to enable bikes to continue on in gridlocked traffic. These
are still several directions we can take, so PLEASE let
the OKCOC and Sooner State ABATE know what you’d
like to see happen. We’ll have more solid information
to provide at the January OKCOC Meeting in Tulsa,
after the Post-Election smoke clears, and Sooner State
ABATE clarifies bill suggestions and contacts potential