PRACTICE AREA(S): Government Relations and Legislation
CLIENT / INDUSTRY: Motorcycle Dealership/Operation Education
ATTORNEY(S): Doug Morgan (attorney), Tom Green (lobbyist)
Situation Summary
In 2003, Calfee was retained to execute the sale of an Ohio-based motorcycle dealership. Near the end of the transaction, the purchaser expressed his frustration with what he felt was an “archaic law” restricting motorcycle safety and education courses to be strictly handled by the state. The program would often times have waiting lists of more than a year, and the program was a financial drain because the cost to participants did not cover the state’s costs to facilitate the program.
Calfee attorneys asked its wholly-owned lobbying subsidiary, Thomas Green & Associates LLC (TGA), to provide insight as to a possible modification to the current state laws.
Calfee Approach
The motorcycle dealership retained TGA to seek a legislative change to the state’s monopoly on safety courses. The goal was to work with the state to modify the program to allow private companies to offer the training, under the direction of the state’s program and for a reasonable fee that would cover its costs.
In talking with the department of public safety, TGA found that political sensitivities had prevented the government from increasing the fee for the program because it could have been viewed as a tax increase – something the governor had vowed not to do. With this understanding, Calfee’s lobbying firm proposed a solution that would increase the amount of money devoted to the program in the overall state budget, while also permitting the state to certify private organizations to offer the program without fee restrictions.
Resolution
Because of TGA’s work, the governor agreed to write an increase into the budget, which ultimately allowed independent motorcycle dealers to offer the safety program. Since this change, the state has gone from 3,000 motorcycle operators trained annually to 10,000. Both the state and the motorcycle dealers have seen tangible benefits from the revised laws. Dealers have seen heavy traffic through their showrooms, and sales of motorcycles and accessories have significantly increased. Most importantly for the state, more drivers than ever are being trained in the safe operation of their motorcycles.
The results described in each case study are dependent on the specific factual and legal circumstances of the matter described, and constitute neither legal advice nor a guarantee of similar results with respect to any other matter.