Federal Transportation Funding Update: House Punts, Senate May Start Voting Tomorrow

We received an update from the League of American Bicyclists this afternoon that things are in flux in Washington D.C. with respect to the Transportation Appropriations bills that are moving through the House and Senate.

The House pulled their bill and will take it up again in September. The Senate may take up voting on amendments tomorrow. We will keep you updated if any amendments to pull funding out of Transportation Alternatives (aka biking and walking projects) get offered. In the meantime, if you haven't e-mailed your Senators to ask them to support bicycling and walking, please do so now.

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. 

Tell Your Senators To Reject Rand Paul's Plan To Defund Bicycling and Walking

Oliver is sick and tired of Congress
trying to defund bicycling and walking

We need you to speak up!

We just learned that Senator Rand Paul has introduced Amendment 1742 to the Transportation Appropriations bill to prohibit ANY MONEY from being used for Transportation Alternatives, and to redirect that money towards bridge repair.

Just last year Congress passed a new transportation bill, MAP-21, that dismantled dedicated funding for biking and walking by combining Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails into one program, then cutting that funding by 30%. The saving grace was that the bill included a local control provision to ensure that Mayors and communities could gain access to these dollars to support local transportation priorities.

Now Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wants to wipe out what’s left.

Please contact your Senators today so that we can maintain the Transportation Alternatives program and the local control provisions that help build bikeable and walkable cities and towns.

We had been expecting the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to announce the availability of T.A. funds this fall for both Pennsylvania and New Jersey communities. Communities could apply for this money to improve their streets, sidewalks, and bridges to make them safer for biking and walking. If Senator Rand's Amendment 1742 is successful, T.A. funds will no longer be available to the Greater Philadelphia region for bike lanes, sidewalks, trails or other biking/walking facilities.

While repairing bridges is important, both for safety and economic development reasons, so are our local economies and the safety of our children. Diverting the small amount of Transportation Alternatives funding to bridge repair couldn't fix our country's bridges in 50 years. But taking that small amount of funding away would dangerously undermine efforts of our cities, towns and counties to provide safe and efficient transportation options for everyone, including our children. With rates of bicycling and walking fatalities on the rise, that is a trade we can’t afford to make.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to save Transportation Alternatives by voting NO on amendment 1742.

Thank you so much for your help!