Legislative Report - January 2026

Steve Panten

Happy 2026! 

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season! I would like to take time to reflect on 2025 and write about our successes, and what we learned legislatively.

Early in 2025, John and I were able to meet with the new Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. This was important since we have had a great relationship with the DOT and look forward to continuing that. Secretary Boardman is committed to working with us to reduce motorcycle fatalities, and it was great to hear we have her support, and the support of the Department.

During this time the Board of Directors approved funds for us to contract with Husch Blackwell in Madison to act as a Government Affairs Advisor for the motorcyclists. Their role is not to lobby for us, because nobody does it better than we do, but rather be a watchdog for us in Madison and advise us on how to proceed with our legislative agenda. Throughout the year, they have been an extremely valuable resource, and we appreciate what they do for us.

That leads us to another very successful Lobby Day in February. Our members showed up to be the voice for all motorcyclists in the State, and they did a great job. On Lobby Day, we were looking for a legislator to draft a bill that would prohibit government regulations on the sale of all vehicles and devices strictly on their fuel source. Not only did we get a bill draft, but we also got the Chair of the Transportation Committee to be the lead on this bill. That is a big accomplishment and just shows how important this issue is.

Another issue we presented was our Right to Repair bill draft. When we went to Lobby Day, all we had was a bill draft from Representative Penterman, so we needed to get support for leadership to assign it a bill number. Again, because of motorcyclists being in the Capitol and meeting with their elected officials, we were able to get a bill draft and a lead in the Senate!

The final issue was protecting E10 or less. We saw legislation requiring new gas stations being built to install distribution equipment that can handle E25, and receiving a grant from the State to help offset the cost. In return, the new business would be required to sell a minimum of E15 or less, in essence taking away the only legal gas for us to use. We needed to be careful with this, because as an organization, we are not opposed to higher ethanol, what we are opposed to is taking away the only gas that the Federal Government says is legal for us to use. We all know that the EPA has said the only gas that is legal to put in a motorcycle is E10 or less, so we needed to stop this. Our “ask” was that if a business is getting taxpayer money to distribute higher ethanol blends, that they would be required to sell E10 or less. Having the motorcyclists in the building and educating our elected officials on our concerns stopped that bill draft before it even got to committee. That is the reason we hold a Lobby Day and why it is the most important day for motorcyclists in the State of Wisconsin.

All that and we are only in February!

The remainder of the year consisted of ABATE members testifying in Public Hearings for our bill to protect the sale of all vehicles and devices, and of course, more meetings. We know how this ends, success in getting the legislature to pass AB 184/AB 161 just to have the governor veto it in November. This veto was not done without one last effort from the motorcyclists through Call to Actions and even included a meeting with the Governor’s staff member in charge of Transportation issues. It was a huge success to get this to the Governor’s desk, but a big disappointment that he saw it as an anti-clean air bill instead of allowing a consumer to have the ability to choose the right tool for the job.

We were able to stop discussions on the bill being proposed to require the sale of E15 for new businesses. The proposed language offered more questions than answers. The supporters of the bill said that language allowed businesses to sell whatever they wanted as long as they had E15 available, but that is not what the language said. Even the lawyers working for the Legislative Reference Bureau could not give a clear answer on what the language was, so discussions were stopped.

Our Right to Repair bills, AB 135/SB129, are still waiting for the Committees to schedule Public Hearings. We are hoping to get the hearing scheduled soon so we can present the opinion of the motorcyclists, and the small, independent shops. Get ready for this one because it is going to come up fast if we are successful in getting it scheduled, or it is going to be the main focus for Lobby Day in 2026.

So that takes us to 2026. Since this is an election year, the legislative session ends for regular business in March. After that, the legislators only work on urgent things that come up. We need a Public Hearing and a Committee vote before the session ends or we have to start all over in 2027.

Lobby Day 2026 is on February 17th, and AB 135/SB 129, our Right to Repair Bill, is going to be a big push for us. The bus schedules are in the newsletter, and I know it seems I say it every year, but we need all the support we can get. We need members and non-members that support our position to fill the meeting rooms and the Capitol. Please, arrange your schedule so you can be there and bring your friends and family.

Almost done, 2 more things…. First, if you are interested in attending Heartland STEAM this year, it is the 36th Annual and this time it will be held in Alexandria, Minnesota on March 20-22. We still have scholarships available so if you are interested, please let me know at legis@abatewis.org. This is a great opportunity to learn from the leaders in the Heartland States and have your room and gas paid for, all you need to do is attend the event and submit a letter about your experience for the newsletter.

Next is about Lobby Day of course. We are currently working on scheduling meetings with our legislators, if you are a presenter or responsible for setting up the meetings, please work with your surrounding regions to schedule them so you can get the most people to attend, and be sure to send your meeting times and locations to Marie in the State office as she is assembling the schedule.

I know that I said there were only 2 more things, but I do have to say congratulations to the lobbyist for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, Rocky Fox, for being named one of the top lobbyists in Washington DC. We all knew how valuable he was for the motorcyclists across the country, but now everyone in the nation knows how good he is. Congratulations!

That’s it.

Steve