Bike/Ped Not Singled for Cut in House Budget

Some good news – biking and walking were not singled out or cut in the budget bill the U.S. House put forward Friday night.  But we aren’t out of the woods yet. Now we shift to “Amendment Watch.”
The board of America Bikes met Saturday to assess and plan for a big week ahead; here is our plan:

1. Next week, we will find out each morning whether there are any amendments attacking biking and walking. If there are any amendments filed attacking biking and walking, we will have a VERY SHORT WINDOW to generate a tidal wave of emails before a vote that day.
2. Our plan is to send an alert between 9:00 - 10:00am EST if there is to be an amendment that day (we will only find out shortly before that). We have information leading us to believe that we are more likely to know of transportation related cuts on Wednesday or Thursday (Feb. 16 or 17).
3. If biking and walking are NOT attacked in any amendments, our “Plan B” may be to stand-up for our partners and send an alert about key programs that still benefit biking and walking (such as funding for trails and public lands, transit, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Sec. of Transportation programs).
4. We encourage you to educate your membership with a very brief “Pre-Alert” (draft below); this week is likely to be critically important for preserving funding for biking and walking.
   The situation is extremely fluid and we really do appreciate you keeping your airwaves open and ready for action.
   
   Thank you.
   Jeff
   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
   Jeffrey Miller, President / CEO
   Alliance for Biking and Walking