April 21, 2004
Hog pork riders squeal excitedly over State funds
Priorities: the Republicans in Talahassee who can’t find funds for health care for the needy have managed to dig up $1 million for their weekend Harley-riding buddies:
A group that lobbied for the controversial repeal of helmet laws in Florida and now counts more than a dozen current and former legislators as members would receive a $1 million-a-year no- bid state contract under proposals racing through both legislative chambers.ABATE of Florida, a 6,000- member motorcycle advocacy group, would be required to use the money for safety awareness, education and research. It would be more money than the state gives the Transportation Department and Florida Highway Patrol for all of their traffic safety awareness programs combined.
Tucking the allocation into Senate Bill 682 was state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, who occasionally rides with the group's president and chief lobbyist, James ``Doc'' Reichenbach II.
``This is extremely important to me,'' said Argenziano, a lifetime-member of ABATE and part of a loose-knit group of motorcycle-riding lawmakers calling themselves the ``Biker Caucus.''
......State officials who typically handle highway safety programs chafed at the proposal, arguing ABATE wages a misleading campaign against the lifesaving benefits of helmets.
``Certainly ABATE would be getting a lot more money than anyone else, and it would be for a negative, untruthful message,'' said Carla Sims, traffic safety administrator for the Department of Transportation Safety Office, which receives no state money for its billboard and television highway safety messages.
Ken Howes, Deputy Director of the Florida Highway Patrol, said his department relies on its Web site and the goodwill of cable operators to distribute its public safety messages for free because of a lack of funding.
Referring to the prospect of a $1 million-a-year deal for ABATE, Howes said, ``That kind of stuff should be coming from the Department of Transportation safety office.''
......No Competitive Bidding
Neither he nor Argenziano had concerns that the contract for the awareness program was not subject to competitive bidding.
``Maybe that's something we can do in the future, once the program is in place,'' Argenziano said.
Reichenbach said he objected to competitive bidding because ``nobody else is doing this.'' The Department of Transportation disputes that assertion.
``We allocate $275,000 to motorcycle safety programs every year'' using federal money, said the Department of Transportation's Sims.
But Reichenbach rejected criticism from the department and the highway patrol.
``They could have done the same thing and didn't do it. All you have to do is put in an amendment. Everyone knows the process,'' Reichenbach said. ``There is so much pork in these budgets. This is just another excuse to boink the bikers.''
Hmmm... everyone knows the process. Why, I can’t believe how stupid the DOT is. All they had to do is put in an amendment and they could have had their own million dollars. Stupid governmental agency. /sarcasm>
Posted by Norwood at April 21, 2004 06:29 AM