From the League of American Bicyclists:
Transportation Enhancements are the largest federal source of bicycle and pedestrian funding and they are under attack.
We need your help – TODAY!
Senator Coburn (R-OK) is offering two amendments to the FY10 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill that will strike funding for transportation enhancements. The two amendments are S. Amendment 2370 and S. Amendment 2371.
The Transportation Enhancement program has provided between one half and three-quarters of all Federal funding invested in bicycling and walking improvements in the last 20 years. More than $250 million is at stake in fiscal year 2010 – if Coburn’s amendment is successful it will affect hundreds of trail projects, sidewalks, bicyclist education programs, bike rack on bus programs, and roadway improvements for bicyclists.
S. Amendment 2370 prohibits funding for transportation enhancements if the Highway Trust Fund does not contain amounts sufficient to cover unfunded highway authorizations.
S. Amendment 2371 allows states to opt out of the 10 percent set aside rule that require states to spend at least 10 percent of their surface transportation funding on transportation enhancements.
We expect the amendments to be offered and voted on during Senate floor debate Wednesday, September 16.
Please call your Senator immediately and urge them to vote NO on S. Amendment 2370 and S. Amendment 2371 to the FY10 transportation appropriations bill.
As a side note, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn’s name has come up here before, when he picked on bike/ped projects in his “2008: Worst Waste of the Year” reports, which specifically targeted the fine people at the Fort Collins Bike Library. Here’s what I wrote back then:
As a physician, you would expect Senator Coburn to recognize the value of bicycling in improving and maintaining public health. And as a Senator, you would expect him to recognize the value of bicycling in reducing our nation’s dependence on oil, reducing air and noise pollution, reducing traffic congestion, and improving roadway safely. But apparently not.
Doesn’t sound like much has changed (and yeah, he’s still using stolen clip art in his report).
So please, call your Senator today, and let your voice be heard to save critical bike/ped funding!
