OMRA Legal News

[Just got this from our friends on the North side.]

Lawsuit filed today to restore WA fuel tax refunds to support motorized use

Attached is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (click here) of the actual lawsuit which was filed today by the Northwest Motorcycle Association regarding what we believe to be the IAC's mis-appropriation of NOVA funds to non-motorized use.

This is now public information.

"Today the Northwest Motorcycle Association filed a lawsuit against the WA State Inter-Agency Committee for Outdoor Recreation (IAC) after exhausting all legislative and administrative efforts over the last 17 years to protect our Nonhighway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) funds from unlawful distribution to non-motorized recreational activities.

Funding to support this action is critical. Please do everything you can to spread the word and help raise funding to provide the NMA with the amount of money it will take to successfully fund this project. "

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The sale of new two-stroke off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles would be banned in Massachusetts under House Bill 1909, introduced by state Rep. J. James Marzilli Jr. (D-Arlington), the American Motorcyclist Association reports.

Under his proposal, it would be illegal for anyone to sell "a recreational vehicle containing a two-stroke engine, including, but not limited to, a snow craft, an all-terrain vehicle, a personal watercraft, or a motorboat."

"This is the most sweeping ban ever introduced in any state," said Royce Wood, AMA legislative affairs specialist in charge of off-highway issues.

If passed, the bill would outlaw new sales of the vast majority of motocross bikes in the state, although anyone who bought a two-stroke built before June 1, 2004 , would be allowed to resell the vehicle.

The bill has been referred to the Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture. Letters from Massachusetts residents opposing the bill should be sent to the committee chairwoman, Sen. Pamela P. Resor (D-Middlesex), Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture, Room 473F, State House, Boston , MA 02133 .

Or, Massachusetts citizens can go to the AMA Rapid Response Center at the AMA website at www.AMADirectlink.com to send a message opposing this bill.