I agree with what Amanda stated. Pitching the need for continued state
funding as a JOBS/ECONOMIC/MONEY thing is the ONLY thing the GOP leaders
are going to be tuned to. The GOP is NOT a fuzzy, family values party
anymore. If they were, they'd be concerned with safety and health
issues. If they were smart and saavy, they'd realize a paltry investment
of $5 million will likely yield, exponentially, WAY more in return. Keep
repeating the message and they will come around. I'm glad to hear that
the finance committee is seeing the light and asking for more info.
Perhaps future budgets will see a return to this investment.
I do find it ironic that they increased some part of the tourism budget
but don't see the incredible impact that out of state bikers have on the
Wisco economy.
Mark Evans
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 13:13:05 -0500
From: Amanda White<[email protected]>
To: Matt Logan<[email protected]>
Cc: Bikies<[email protected]>, [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Budget panel cuts $5 million for bike/pedestrian
projects
Message-ID:<[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hello Matt,
I always enjoy your spirited feedback! Please allow me to address your
concerns. This will also give me a chance to update the list serve on the
efforts we have taken over the past several months regarding the $5 million
funding cut.
The message we have provided to Republicans and Democrats alike has focused
on the tremendous economic impact of bicycling in Wisconsin. Most of the
reps and senators on both sides of the aisle were not familiar with latest
report released by UW-Madison that showed bicycling contributes $1.5 billion
and 13,000 jobs to our economy each year. Given the adminsitration's focus
on jobs, the number of jobs related to cycling in Wisconsin should be highly
relevant to funding bicycling.
The economic impact of tourism is a major focus of this administration. In
fact, the Department of Tourism's budget is one of the only budgets that was
actually increased. We've met with Secretary of Tourism Stephanie Klett and
her team. She was also the opening speaker for our Bike Summit. An important
message that we've shared regarding bicycle tourism is that visitors from
outside our state spend over $500 million in Wisconsin engaging in races,
rides and other bicycling-related activities.
--
Mark Evans
*Follow the Wheels for Winners earn-a-bike program on FACEBOOK! (click
below)*
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