[Bikies] BFW Action Alert: Enhancements in Danger!

[Marjorie Ward]

BIKE PATH FUNDING IN DANGER! CALL CONGRESS BEFORE JULY 21!

In a controversial move, a House subcommittee voted on July 11 to
eliminate federal funding for bike facilities from the 2004 budget. The
committee redirected the money to highways instead.

Funding for the popular Transportation Enhancements program was zeroed out
in the 2004 federal budget by a House Appropriations subcommittee on
Friday 7/11. The bill increases highway funding to $34.1 billion, an
increase of $2.5 billion over 2003 levels, in part by entirely cutting
funding for Enhancements, and severely reducing money available for new
transit projects and Amtrak.

A vote by the full Appropriations Committee may happen on Monday, 7/21.

Not only does this move eliminate the most important source of federal funding for bike facilities in 2004, it also sets a bad precedent for the next 6 year
transportation bill, jeopardizing the bicycle community's efforts to
strengthen existing programs, build safer roads, and create a strong
national Safe Routes to School program.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!

Call your Representative's Washington DC office. Reach any Rep by calling
202-224-3121 and asking to be transferred to the Rep�s office. If you don�t know who your Rep is, find them on the League of American Bicyclist�s new service at http://econstituent.votenet.com/lab. Click on the elected officials tab, enter your zip code, then click biography for phone numbers.

Ask to speak to the staffer who works on Transportation Appropriations.
Introduce yourself. If you represent a club or business, sayso. If your
Representative is David Obey (who sits on the House Appropriations Committee) ask him to "restore funding in the 2004 budget for Enhancements and other programs that help build a balanced transportation system."  The good news is that Obey is on our side and pro-bike�unfortunately many others are not.

If your Representative does not sit on the Appropriations Committee, say
"I know your boss does not sit on Appropriations, but I am very concerned
about the bill in Appropriations that would eliminate funding in 2004 for
Transportation Enhancements and other programs that are building a
balanced transportation system. Please help restore funding for
Enhancements and other alternative transportation programs."

For more information, go to www.americabikes.org/saveenhancements.asp.

While you�ve got their ear, you might also want ask them to consider co-sponsoring HR 2568 (the great Safe Routes to School bill called PACE).  Tammy Baldwin is already signed on as an original sponsor.  For more information, go to http://www.americabikes.org/pace_action_alert.asp

Another day�another battle.  Thanks in advance for helping us Make Wisconsin a Better Place to Bicycle.