I think the key argument against the "If the state leaders don't want to adequately fund our kids' education why would they fund SRTS?" argument is that we are talking about Republican legislators who probably represent Republican dominated school districts like New Berlin. In New Berlin, the Republican controlled school board has fully exploited their new ability to effectively reduce teacher compensation and to force work rules that reduce expenses. While the impact on the quality of education is debatable, the realized savings are not. In New Berlin, the cuts went almost exclusively to teacher compensation and work environment. The upshot is that the perception in Republican districts is positive, not negative about the budget bill's impact on schools. I also agree that SRTS could be pitched as helping reduce state subsidies for school bussing.
As to winning back 50% of state-dedicated bicycle funding - I assume you refer to the federal funding, which may still be up in the air based on how the federal budget debates are going. Better not to count those chickens before they've hatched. From: Amanda White [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:48 PM To: Matt Logan Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bike Bashing on WIBA today It's a tough climate out there in politics as we all know. I don't agree that we're on the wrong track. We were able to win back 50% of our state-dedicated bicycle funding that was cut in Gov Walker's proposed budget. Without the work of the Bike Fed or our lobbyists, our state-dedicated funding in 2012 - 2013 would still be a big fat $0. While $2 million dollars is a ridiculous amount of state funding for bikes/ped when compared to the huge road budget, at least it's not $0. My concern with trying to push Safe Routes to School is that our schools just took an incredibly huge hit. With the serious budget crisis now facing our school systems across the state, it's now harder than ever to push biking and walking to school. If the state leaders don't want to adequately fund our kids' education why would they fund SRTS? I urge you and others to come to our Bike Fed Membership meeting on October 10. More details coming soon. It will be good to get various members' perspectives and have a dialogue. Amanda Did you catch the Cap Times article? http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/blog/article_3c7eb8d8 -e3ca-11e0-8037-001cc4c002e0.html On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Matt Logan <[email protected]> wrote: One more thing: I don't believe the vulnerable user statute has any chance of clearing the assembly, and if you listen to WIBA today, you will understand why. My extensive listening to WIBA is the big reason why I believe the Bike Fed is still on wrong track - they should be focusing on an area where reality-challenged Republicans still have sympathy: helping school children safely get to school on foot and bike. It's a little late to try to get SRTS funding increased - but perhaps there is another path to helping school kids that we can take? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Amanda White Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 11:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Bikies] Bike Bashing on WIBA today Talk show host Vicki McKenna is claiming that today is "The Bicycle Federation Of Wisconsin's Car Free Day" (actually it is "International Car Free Day" but apparently those pesky facts just aren't all that important). She took the opportunity to rail against vulnerable user legislation in Milwaukee this morning on 1130 WISN. She will probably do the same topic sometime between 3-6p in Madison on 1310 WIBA. If anyone has time to listen and call in in support of bikes and vulnerable users legislation, here's the info: 1310 WIBA is 608-321-1310 or 1-877-235-1310 Amanda ________________________ Amanda White Associate Director Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (608) 251-4456 <tel:%28608%29%20251-4456> [email protected] www.bfw.org We've moved! You can find us at: 409 East Main Street, Suite 203, Madison, WI 53703 -- ________________________ Amanda White Associate Director Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (608) 251-4456 [email protected] www.bfw.org We've moved! You can find us at: 409 East Main Street, Suite 203, Madison, WI 53703
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