Credit Rick Wyatt: I attended the Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting today (6-22-2017). Lots of information learned. One of the more shocking items was Governor Greg Abbott line item vetoed the Texas Motorcycle Safety Unit’s budget for next year!


If you are wondering why this is significant, keep reading. The monies for the MSU budget is paid for by Texas Motorcyclists for Texas Motorcyclists! It is in a specially created fund that can ONLY be used by the MSU! It has been ‘locked up’ for 15 years. It CAN NOT be used by for any other purpose but for motorcycle safety and education.


If you wonder why we must pay $235 for a motorcycle safety class, this is why. The MSU has been denied the monies dedicated to it to defer this cost. This is why the training bikes are over 15 years old.


I encourage EVERY Texas motorcyclist to contact Governor Abbott and ask him to review and reverse his veto. How can we promote rider education and safety when the department that is supposed to do it is expected to do so without a budget?

 

SB 1 Signature and Item Disapproval Proclamation

 

Article V – Public Safety and Criminal Justice


Department of Public Safety

F. 1.2. Strategy:  Safety Education  2018: $4,741,451  2019: $4,741,451

This appropriation exceeds the amount requested by the Department of Public Safety to fund this new strategy. If it is determined by the Department of Public Safety that improving the safety on our roads is contingent on an increased appropriation of tax funds for this campaign effort, then the Department of Public Safety can identify those needs and present them to the legislature at that time. Until that time, I object to and disapprove of one year of this appropriation.

56.       Public Safety Grant for the Greater Houston Area. Out of General Revenue Funds appropriated above in Strategy C.2.1, Public Safety Communications, the Department of Public Safety shall grant $4,000,000 in fiscal year 2018 to a non-profit entity in Houston that is dedicated to preventing and solving crime in the Greater Houston Area through programs emphasizing crime information reporting, student and parent education, and community empowerment.

The Department of Public Safety’s core mission is to serve and protect citizens of Texas as the state’s primary law enforcement agency. Over recent years, efforts have been made to help the agency concentrate on its core mission and to transfer grant-making activities to other state agencies. This appropriation, for which the Department did not request funding in its 2018-19 Legislative Appropriation Request, would return the Department to being a grant-making entity. This veto will not prevent Houston Crime Stoppers from being able to receive grant funding from the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division—or encumber Houston Crime Stoppers’ ability to provide awards to appropriate recipients. I therefore object to and disapprove of this appropriation.


Please go here and share your thoughts:

 

https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact/opinion.aspx


Please keep it civil. We need Governor Abbott on our side.

 

Popeye - Rick, thank you for this post. During the 84th session we freed up about 4 millions of those dollars. At that point there was 17 million that had stacked up. Paul Landers can probably tell you more about this effort which was side tracked by the Twinn Peaks episode, but Not before it was signed by Governor Perry as law.

 

Paul said we would have to keep an eye on this. Seems the DPS, Legislators and now the Governor is not willing to find a way to free up monies that we contribute to motorcycle safety.


This is something we should all be involved in. With one giant overwhelming voice.