Friday, January 30, 2009
Little piece of good news
A quick note on the stimulus package. All things considered, mass transit got a better deal; the assigned funds went from 10 billion to 13 billion. Still less than roads and less that what the US needs, but it is some good progress; people like Transport for America did a great job furiously lobbying for this increase.
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T4 America sent this Call-to-Action the other day.
ReplyDeleteAfter countless calls and emails from our allies and supporters like you, we logged our first major legislative victory yesterday when the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a last-minute amendment adding $3 billion for transit into the economic recovery bill.
Tell the Senate to follow the House's lead and increase funding for transit in their version of the stimulus!
This amendment pushes $12 billion to transit investment - a critical step towards creating jobs, providing much-needed support to ailing transit systems across the country, ensuring access to opportunity for all of us, and making a down-payment on a green energy future.
We now know what can happen when all of us raise our voices for smarter transportation investments. Now, help us keep up the momentum!
Write to your senators today and urge them to increase funding for transit and other critical transportation priorities in their economic recovery package.
Rep. John Mica (R-FL) put it simply on the House floor yesterday: "Nothing will create more jobs than transportation infrastructure." But across the country, tens of thousands of buses need to be replaced, transit agencies are facing unprecedented budget shortfalls, and hundreds of billions of dollars for critical maintenance and repair have been neglected, ignored, and pushed off for another day.
Well, we can't wait another day. The Senate will finalize their bill and vote in the next week.
Now's our chance to translate our victory in the House into a victory for all Americans.
Write to your Senators today.