Advocacy Alert: Ask your members of Congress to co-sponsor the PHIT Act

Last week, representatives from the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation and other bicycle, pedestrian, and trails advocacy groups in Missouri attended the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC. During the Summit, we met with every Missouri Congressional office.

A big part of our ask was this:  Will you co-sponsor the PHIT Act?

Our delegation at the National Bike Summit this year included representatives from BikeWalkKC, PedNet (Columbia), and Trailnet (St. Louis), and the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation

We got a good response from several of our members of Congress.  This is a proposal that is bipartisan in nature, will help improve fitness and health nationwide, and will help people all across the country, whether they live in a city, a suburb, or a rural town.

Can you help us now by contacting your members of Congress and asking them to co-sponsor the PHIT act?

• Click here to ask Congress to support Physical Fitness by becoming a co-sponsor of the PHIT Act.

More about the proposal from the League of American Bicyclists:

The Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act would make it easier for Americans to be physically active. Specificaly it would allow individuals or families to use pre-tax dollars for physical fitness activites and equipment such as bicycles, confident cycling and other classes as well as school sports fees and gym memberships with dollars from pre-tax accounts like flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

Currently Americans redominately use pre-tax health accounts to pay for prescription drugs, doctor visit co-pays, etc. The PHIT Act would allow consumers to set aside up to $1000 per individual or $2000 per family from their HSA and FSA accounts. This helps families that put money into the HSA and then don't need it for health care - now they can use it for preventative care like fitness.

PHIT will help reverse the sedentary/obesity trend by providing an economic incentive to invest in physical activity and help reduce overall health costs. Financial incentives have been used effectively to encourage home ownership, retirement savings and higher education; PHIT would do the same for investment in health via physical activity.

Please click here to ask Congress to support Physical Fitness

Gain support and funding for walking, bicycling, trails, and health outdoor recreation is an important part of our the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. Working with Missouri members of Congress and the Missouri General Assembly to build support for that ambitious goal is one of our most important strategies for reaching that goal.

Your ongoing membership and generous financial support help turn our Vision into reality!