Bicycle-related projects, legislation, funding requests, that would benefit from your action in contacting public officials, media, and other cyclists.
Take direct action in support of these issues in as little as two minutes:
Advocacy:
Bicycling License Plate: Many other states have 'Share the Road with Bicycles' license plates. Why not Missouri, too? In 1 minute you can show your support.
21 July 2003: Transportation Enhancements action in the U.S. House July 24th
Monday, July 21, 2003
We have previously reported that A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to eliminate the funding for Enhancements in the federal transportation bill.
Enhancements funds most bicycle and pedestrian projects across the U.S.
UPDATE 24 July 2003: The vote to restore Enhancements funding narrowly failed in the House Appropriations Committee. Read the details on MoBikeFed News. Between now and Auigust 2003, your Representative and Senators need to hear from you about your support for bicycle and pedestrian funding in the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill.
The chair of the House Appropriations Committee is poised to introduce a substitute bill that will re-instate Enhancements.
Appropriations Committee action on the bill is scheduled for Thursday, July 24th, 2003.
The current debate is a great opportunity to write your Representative and state your support for funding for bicycle, pedestrian, and other intermodal projects.
Below is the latest update on the situation from Rails-to-Trails:
TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS UPDATE #4 As you know, the bill approved by the Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies Subcommittee of House Appropriations on July 11 would eliminate all funding for Transportation Enhancements activities. The grassroots outcry against this indefensible action is being heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress!
In response to the public opposition to the subcommittee bill, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), has indicated that he intends to offer a "substitute package" when the bill comes before the full committee. Chairman Young's intentions were revealed in an editorial and a press story that appeared in newspapers in his local district over the weekend:
Today RTC President Keith Laughlin sent a letter to Chairman Young commending him for his leadership in taking the unusual step of preparing an alternative to this fatally-flawed subcommittee bill. Laughlin also offered RTC's assistance in developing an alternative that restores full funding for Transportation Enhancements in the fiscal year 2004 appropriation for the US Department of Transportation.
We've got momentum on our side but this is no time to rest on our laurels! Chairman Young's substitute bill could still come before the full House Appropriations Committee this week. A list of the members of the committee can be found here:
If your Representative sits on the Appropriations Committee, please call them and ask them to contact Chairman Young in order to ensure that his 'substitute package' restores full funding for Transportation Enhancements in fiscal year 2004.
In the meantime, press coverage has been proliferating, and RTC will continue to work with the news media to get the word out about how important the Transportation Enhancements program is for communities across the country. Here are two more great pieces that appeared over the weekend:
This is a great opportunity to (again) let your elected representatives know that you support bicycling.
Here is a summary of the issue from BikeLeague News:
The House Transportation Appropriations subcommittee recently cut federal funding for a majority of bicycle projects for FY 2004 by prohibiting funds from being used for transportation enhancements. They have also severely cut or eliminated funding for a number of other bicycling sources, such as the Transportation and Community Preservation Pilot Program (TCSP).
The full Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on this measure as early as Monday, July 21. The League is requesting all bicyclists contact their Members of Congress and urge them to restore funding for bicycling in the Transportation Appropriations Bill for FY 2004. Regardless of whether your member is on the Appropriations Committee or not, it is imperative that ALL Members of Congress realize how important enhancements and TCSP funding is to bicyclists. Not only do we need funding restored for FY 2004, but your message should also serve as a future reminder to Congress that these programs must be preserved and strengthened in TEA-21 reauthorization.
To contact Congress, please visit the League's new Advocacy Center. You can determine who your Senators and Members ofCongress are and send them a message on this issue as well as other issues
of importance to bicycling.
Please do take the time to contact U.S. Senators and Representatives from Missouri about this issue. In a tight budget year, funding for bicycle and pedestrians projects will be under constant pressure. Our elected representatives need to know that their constituents support bicycle and pedestrian projects and funding.
At a time when inactivity, obesity, and related problems are rising at such a rate that they have been labelled an "epidemic", and 10% of roadway fatalities are pedestrians and cyclists, while less than 1% of funding is directed towards projects that would improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and connectivity, it is good public policy to support continued funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
Funding for such projects should be maintained and increased, not slashed.
7 July 2003: Support Safe Routes to School in the next federal transportation bill
Monday, July 07, 2003
Martha Roskowski of America Bikes writes:
SUPPORT THE OBERSTAR PACE BILL Ask your Representative to be a co-sponsor
On June 18th, Congressman Oberstar (D-Minn) announced the introduction of a bill to create a strong national Safe Routes to School program. It's a great bill, but we need the bicycle COMMUNITY to speak up.
Please write a letter or make a call to your Representative today asking him or her to become a co-sponsor of Oberstar's bill, the Pedestrian and Cyclist Equity Act of 2003 (PACE). LINKS TO A sample letter and talking points are below.
PACE would send $250 million per year to states to create safer streets around schools and encourage bicycling and walking. Other elements of PACE provide grants to increase physical activity and build three model communities. PACE will likely be folded into the reauthorization of TEA-21.
The bill faces a long road through Congress. First, we must convince the US House of Representatives to support PACE. Representatives show their support by signing on as a "co-sponsor" of the bill. A similar bill will likely be introduced in the US Senate soon, but right now, we're just targeting the US House of Representatives.
Your voice is important, as Representatives listen closely to business people from their districts. Please send your letter or make the call by July 11th.
A little-known section of the Bush Administration's "SAFETEA" proposal could have a devastating effect on the Rails-to-Trails movement if it is incorporated into the final TEA-21 reauthorization currently working its way through Congress.
The House and the Senate are currently working on their own versions of the TEA-21 reauthorization, which are independent of the administration's SAFETEA proposal. Nevertheless, with the administration, the House, and the Senate all controlled by one party, there is always the possibility that the adminstration's proposal will influence the House and the Senate versions of TEA-21 reauthorization.
With work on the TEA-21 reauthorization bill currently in progress in both the Senate and House of Representatives, now would be a good time to contact your Senators and Representative to express your support for bicycle and pedestrian issues in general, and Rails-to-Trails in particular.
Please note that an inaccurate email message has been circulating about the anti-railtrail section of SAFETEA. The email claims that Missouri Senator Kit Bond has introduced an amendment with the anti-railtrail language. This is not true; Senator Bond has not introduced any amendments related to the TEA-21 reauthorization. MoBikeFed News has more details about the inaccurate email message.
Information about the railtrail-unfriendly section of the Bush administration's SAFETEA proposal:
Background Information
Railbanking, Rail-Trails and Section 1716 of SAFETEA
Provided by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, July 1, 2003
There are nearly 12,500 miles of open rail-trail in the United States. Another 16,760 miles are in development, with communities in every state awaiting their construction. The enormous popularity of trails is fueled by their ability to generate civic pride and economic prosperity by catalyzing small business growth, promoting tourism and increasing property values. Rail-trails enhance livability by improving air and water quality, and preserving natural, cultural and historical resources. They also create healthy people and communities by making it easy and fun to get outside for exercise, transportation and recreation.
The driving policy force behind this huge movement is two pieces of federal legislation: 1) the 1983 railbanking provisions of the National Trails Systems Act allowing unused railroad corridors to be preserved for possible rail reactivation if managed on an interim basis as trails and 2) the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program included in federal transportation legislation since 1991 which has provided more than $530 million for rail-trail acquisition and development. Specifically, 4,334 miles of rail corridor have been railbanked; 1,611 miles of railbanked corridor are open to the public (85 trails); and over $115 million in Transportation Enhancements dollars have been devoted to railbanked rail-trails.
On Sept. 30, 2003, current federal surface transportation legislation, TEA-21 expires. It is currently undergoing congressional renewal or “reauthorization.”
The Bush Administration’s proposed transportation bill, introduced in both the House and the Senate as part of the Safe and Flexible Transportation Equity Act, “SAFETEA,” includes a provision, Section 1617, captioned indemnification on Certain Railbanked Projects. This provision was included in the transportation bill at the request of the U. S. Department of Justice. Its purpose is to stop states from using TE or any other federal dollars for railbanked trails. It does so by requiring them to reimburse the federal government for any such investment, plus attorneys’ fees, if such a corridor is the subject of a winning takings claim. Its affect would be to stop railbanking in its tracks.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy strongly opposes Section 1617 of SAFETEA. This provision would render railbanking useless as a tool for corridor preservation and interim trail use.
For additional information about the legislation, including the actual text proposed, an analysis of it, and a state-by-state list of affected trails, please click on the "comment on this article" link at the end of this message.
