[W3GV] HB37 and our effort to insert a ham radio exemption.

[ucdavid at aol.com]

ARRL leadership in Pennsylvania is actively involved in a process thatwe hope will conclude shortly with an exemption to the restrictions inHouse Bill 37 that now await action in the Pennsylvania Senate.
HB 37 as you may know, prohibits the use of handheld devices whiledriving. The original intent was most likely to eliminate the use ofcell phones and texting on cell phones while driving, but an exemptionto permit Amateur Radio mobile microphone use was removed from theoriginal bill. It passed the house without the exemption and awaitsaction in the Senate.
The Eastern and Western Pennsylvania ARRL Section Managers (WGWM andW3BC), and the Eastern PA ARES Section Emergency Coordinator (WN3LIF)along with ARRL Vice-Director, attorney Bob Famiglio (K3RF DelawareCounty), are meeting with the Executive Director of the PennsylvaniaSenate Transportation Committee January 30th to hammer out an exemptionfor ham mobile use. We’ll report back via email on our progress afterthe meeting.
Rest assured that your ARRL/ARES leaders are actively engaged in thisprocess and working to ensure that the PA Senate recognizes the vitalrole Amateur Radio Operators in the Commonwealth play in EmergencyResponse to incidents and disasters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------ARRL Western Pennsylvania SectionSection Manager: Joe Shupienis, W3BCw3bc at arrl.org--------------------------------------------------------------------