A provision in House Bill 35, the State Transportation Budget, proposes abolishment of the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund (Fund 8460) following transfer of its cash balance to the State Highway Safety Fund (Fund (7036).
The Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund, together with student tuition fees, funds the Motorcycle Ohio rider education program. Motorcycle Ohio is administrated by the Office of Criminal Justice Services, a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
This potential action should raise concerns among Ohio’s on-highway motorcyclists, who support Motorcycle Ohio through $6.00 from each motorcycle registration fee paid to the registrar of motor vehicles.
House Bill 35 is schedule for a public hearing Friday, February 15 before the Transportation Subcommittee of House Finance and Appropriations Committee. The agenda provides time and location information.
Why should I be concerned about House Bill 35?
In 2006 and again in 2009, the state of Ohio attempted to raid the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund. In 2006, the Ohio Controlling Board received and later rejected a request to transfer $750,000 from the Fund. In 2009, then-governor Strickland reversed a decision to transfer $800,000 from the Fund. In both cases, the motorcycling community spoke up to protect the money they paid to support rider education.
The proposed abolishment of the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund following transfer of its cash balance to the State Highway Safety Fund is troubling for several reasons:
- Placing motorcycle registration fee money in the State Highway Safety Fund makes it harder for the motorcycling community to track it.
- Placing motorcycle registration fee money in the State Highway Safety Fund makes it easier to divert it for purposes other than motorcycle safety and education.
- Only a few so-called “rotary funds”, of which the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund is one, are slated for abolishment in House Bill 35.
- Motorcycle Ohio is strongly supported by the motorcycling community because they know how their money is being used.
- The motorcycling community does not want money collected from them for a specific program used for purposes other than motorcycle safety and education.
What can I do?
If you believe the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund should remain a stand-alone fund used solely for motorcycle safety and education, as currently mandated in Ohio Revised Code 4501.13, consider contacting the members of the Transportation Subcommittee today:
1) 614-466-2038 – Rep. Ross McGregor, chair
2) 614-466-1308 – Rep. Alicia Reece, ranking minority member
3) 614-466-8114 – Rep. Richard Adams, member
4) 614-466-2473 – Rep. John Patrick Carney, member
5) 614-466-9690 – Rep. Cheryl Grossman, member
You might also consider contacting your state representative, if he or she is not one of the Transportation Subcommittee members listed above, to encourage his or her support for maintaining the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund as it is today.
Consider using the bullet points above as your starting point when asking your representative to delete the provision in House Bill 35 that abolishes the Motorcycle Safety and Education Fund. Then make your conversation personal by explaining why Motorcycle Ohio and rider education are important to you.
If you have completed one or more of the rider courses offered, you are in a good position to influence your elected officials on preserving and strengthening the Motorcycle Ohio program and its funding source as they exist today because you know the value of the training you received. Make sure your elected officials understand your support of rider education, because many of them do not ride and do not know how important rider training is to the motorcycling community.
Consider making those calls today.
Motorcycle Ohio is a nationally recognized and respected rider education program that provides four training courses for motorcyclists of all skill levels. The Basic RiderCourse, the Basic RiderCourse for returning riders, the Basic RiderCourse 2, and the Advanced RiderCourse are taught by dedicated, experienced RiderCoaches. Registration for Motorcycle Ohio rider courses opens February 19.
This information is directly from the AMA
