Help preserve Safe Routes to School funding

A Message from the Safe Rotes to School National Partnership


ACTION ALERT
Contact your California State Assembly and Senate Members this Week

Ask Them to Sign-On to a California Letter to Senator Boxer Urging Her to Protect SRTS and Bike/Ped Funding in the Federal Transportation Bill

California Friends of Safe Routes to School,

As you’ve probably heard, the federal draft of the Senate Transportation Bill which passed out of Senator Boxer’s committee last November is not good for Safe Routes to School, bicycling or walking. It reduces funding for the programs and combines them all into an “additional activities” program that includes many new eligible uses including big ticket items such as wetland mitigation, NEPA mitigation and roadway uses. This could destroy California funding streams for bicycling and walking.

State Senator Mark Leno has agreed to circulate a sign-on letter from California State Legislators to Senator Boxer (see copy below), asking for her leadership to protect bicycle and pedestrian funding.

We need you to contact your California Senate and Assembly members ASAP to ask them to sign-on. It’s easy following these three steps:
1) Find the contact information for your members here by entering your zip code: http://www.legislature.ca.gov/port-zipsearch.html

2) Call the Sacramento (916) numbers for both your Senate and Assembly members. If you know someone on staff, ask to speak to that person, if you don’t know someone on staff ask to be connected to the transportation staffer and say, “My name is XXX and I’m from NAME OF CITY. I’m calling to ask NAME OF LEGISLATOR to sign-on to a letter to Senator Boxer which is being circulated by Senate Leno. The letter urges Senator Boxer to protect bicycle and pedestrian funding in the federal transportation bill. Will NAME OF LEGISLATOR sign-on?”

3) Ask the staffer who you speak with if they could please get back to you to tell you if the member signs-on. If they ask for a copy of the letter, you can provide the copy by clicking here. If they ask for the staff lead for Senator Leno’s office, you can let them know that it’s Barry Steinhart.

The deadline for sign-ons is Tuesday, January 17, so please make the calls today. A strong message from the state of California will help Senator Boxer to stay strong when the Senate transportation bill reaches the floor soon.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Deb Hubsmith, Director
Safe Routes to School National Partnership