Prepare to Tweet Today to Beat Back Potential Attack on on Federal Bike Funding!

Each year Congress debates a series of appropriations bills that together make up the annual budget.  This week both the House and the Senate are debating the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations. 

Last week we reported on amendment 1742 by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky to strip funding for biking and walking in the Senate's version of the bill. We were able to alert you because his amendment was public as debate began.  Your emails and calls were part of 6,500 that Congress received, which prompted some key Senators on both sides to stand in opposition to the amendment.  If you haven't weighed in yet, please do so by send a quick email. The Senate takes up the bill again starting today.

WE MAY NOT BE SO LUCKY IN THE HOUSE. 

The House of Representatives will be debating the Transportation, HUD Appropriations bill under an open rule, meaning anyone can introduce an amendment at any time. We are concerned we’ll see a copy cat amendment to Paul’s in the House

The House will be pulling an all-nighter tonight to talk transportation funding, and biking and walking dollars could be on the chopping block.

We are preparing for a late-night attack on biking and walking funding and we are asking for your help. Look for a Tweet later today from us @bcgp alerting you to an attack -- and asking you to Tweet at your members of Congress.  Don't know your Congressman's handle? Find it here.

The House will start the debate at 3:30 p.m. today with the goal of continuing until they finish.  This means we could see an amendment at 6 p.m. or as late as 3 a.m. —and with only an hour or so of notice. It also means that emails to the offices will likely sit unopened until after the vote.  We'll need to get folks to weigh in fast, and in a format that members and their staff see right away.

We are asking you to be prepared this afternoon/evening to tweet your member of Congress asking them to vote NO on any amendment that will harm funding for biking and walking.  We will post the amendment number, the name of the sponsor and the content of the amendment, as soon as we learn that an amendment has been introduced.    When we do, please retweet that message using your Representative's handle - and send it through your networks.  

We want to make sure Congress knows we’re watching, and that any late night attempt to cut Transportation Alternatives or otherwise harm biking and walking, will be protested by their constituents. Both the House and Senate go on a month-long recess on Friday so they need to finish this week. 

Early Bird and Bike Shop Scholarship Deadlines for National Bike Summit

Two Important National Bike Summit Deadlines are nearly here! The NBS is March 4-6 in Washington D.C.


For Bike Shop Owners/Managers - Thursday, Jan 10th
For 25 shop owners and managers, the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) is providing scholarships to cover the cost of registration and travel (up to $625). To be eligible to apply, you must be a first-time Summit attendee and your shop must be a member of NBDA. If you or someone you know would like to be considered, make sure to get in your application fast! The deadline is 5:00 EST this Thursday, January 10th.

Apply for the scholarship, or register today!


Early Bird Rate For Bike League Members - Monday, January 21st
If you haven't registered yet for the 2013 National Bike Summit, now is the time! Join the advocates and industry leaders from 35 states and two Canadian provinces who have signed up so far. The early bird rate of $375 (for current League members) goes up by $100 on January 21st. Secure your spot and save some bucks by registering today.

An Update On The Slow-Moving Trainwrecks That Are The Federal Transportation Bills

We have urged you, our membership and readership, to contact your Congressmen the past few weeks and urge them not to gut biking and walking funding from federal transportation bills. Thank you if you made a phone call or sent a letter. Here is an update on the status of transportation legislation in Washington DC.

You can stop reading now if you want. This sums it up.

The Senate (cows on the tracks)
On the Senate side, Sen. Barbara Boxer is pessimistic about her two-year bill called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP 21) after the bill was attacked by a swarm of unrelated amendments.

The House (the train was 8 hour late, ended up in the wrong city, all the passengers got motion sickness, and then the train fell into a river)
Although we didn't succeed in putting biking and walking back into the House Bill, our opposition to the bill has found some unlikely bedfellows. Not only do biking and walking proponents oppose the House bill, so does the Tea Party, Club for Growth, and several Chicagoland Republican Congressmen.