7 MAY 2004 [Expired]: Last chance to help bike/ped legislation move forward

[UPDATE 17 MAY 2004: This alert has now expired. SB710 was placed on the House Calendar and made its way from about 36th position to about 20th position by the time the session ended. Unfortunately it never made it to the top of the calendar for a vote in the Missouri House. MoBikeFed is planning to try again next year, perhaps with a different strategy.]

What happened
SB 710 was passed by the MO Senate a few weeks ago. It was given a DO PASS recommendation from the Missouri House Transportation Committee last week. Finally, SB 710 is on the House calendar and had it's 3rd reading Thursday. But time is short--the legislative session ends next Friday, May 14th. (See details below.)

What you can do to help in 2 easy steps
1. Write/call house leadership, asking them to "Please support SB 710, child safety seat legislation handled by Rep. Dusenberg, and help it move forward to a vote in the House." Contacts:

Catherine Hanaway, Speaker, (573) 751-8510, fax 573-522-1972
chanaway@services.state.mo.us

Rod Jetton, Speaker Pro Tem, (573) 751-5912, fax 573-526-9804
Rod.Jetton@house.mo.gov

Jason Crowell, Majority Floor Ldr, (573) 751-2459, fax 573-651-9090
Jason.Crowell@house.mo.gov

2. Send a separate message thanking these four people for their support of the bike/ped/motorcycle provisions of SB710:

Larry.Crawford@house.mo.gov
Phone: 573-751-2134 Fax: 573-526-3994
(Chair of House Transportation Committee)

Gary.Dusenberg@house.mo.gov
Phone: 573-751-1487
(Handler/sponsor of SB710 in the House)

Jon Dolan
Phone: (573) 751-4964 Fax: (573) 751-9754
Email: http://www.senate.state.mo.us/email/mail_request.htm
(Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee)

Wayne Goode:
Phone: (573) 751-2420
Email: http://www.senate.state.mo.us/email/mail_request.htm
(Sponsor of SB 710)

Mailing address for all of the above is:
Senator or Representative X
201 West Capitol Avenue
Jefferson City MO 65101

Details
As I reported earlier, it is true the that the bike/ped/motorcycle provisions were stripped from the House version of SB 710. However, this is not as disastrous as it seems at first glance. Not just the bike/ped/motorcycle provisions, but *ALL* potentially controversial provisions were stripped from the House version of the bill, because sponsors felt it was the *only* way the bill could move forward in the House.

The atmosphere in the Missouri House is very volatile this year.

However, our sponsors and supporters in both the House and the Senate feel hopeful that at least some of the most important and least controversial bike/ped/motorcycle provisions will be added back when the House and the Senate reconcile their conflicting versions of SB 710 in conference committee.

Two things are important at this point:

1. SB 710 must pass the House. Even though the House version has no bike/ped/motorcycle provisions, passing the "stripped" SB 710 is the only way our bike/ped/motorcycle provisions have any hope of passing this year.

2. Conference committee members need to know, in a low-pressure, low-key sort of way, that there is plenty of constituent support for the bike/ped/motorcycle provisions. Conference committee members will likely include Crawford and Dusenberg (House), Dolan, Goode, and Bray (Senate), and possibly some others.