[UPDATE 3/13: Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon says these bills are not subject to Wednesday’s cutoff. Martin hears that there was a late deal to declare them necessary to pass the budget, which frees them of the deadline.]
The below action alert has been sent out by Transportation for Washington. I strongly encourage everyone to take a few minutes to send an email or call your legislator and get a few friends or coworkers to do so as well.
In the past 24 hours, more than 2100 emails have been sent to legislators to support local funding options for saving bus service and fixing our streets.
We only have less than 48 hours to get this done and we need you to speak up for transit TODAY .
Three bills — House Bills 1898, 1953, and 1959 which would save transit service in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties and fix our crumbling roads are awaiting a floor vote. If this bill does not get a vote before Wednesday at 5:00pm, we will lose our chance to save transit.
Send a letter to your legislator now >>
We need every single vote we can get, and our transit champions, including Rep. Marko Liias, Rep. Jessyn Farrell, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, Rep. Luis Moscoso, and Rep. Jake Fey, are telling us they need your voice of support right now to show legislators this is critically important.
You already know about the pot holes and missing sidewalks in your neighborhood. We’ve got to give cities and counties the ability to fix them.What has been especially tragic is the loss of bus service in our communities over the past few years. For example, King County Metro was temporarily spared 17% cuts in 2011, but that stopgap measure runs out next year. Pierce Transit has had to slash service 35% and will cut service even more this fall. And the recession has forced Community Transit to similarly cut bus service for thousands of workers, students, and families.
Besides being a good way to prevent congestion and save money, transit is also a lifeline for thousands of kids, seniors, and people with disabilities. We constantly hear heart-wrenching stories about how single moms can’t get to their jobs or families who can’t get to the grocery store because their bus doesn’t run on Sunday.
Quite frankly, the bus cuts, potholes, and unfinished sidewalks, are all unacceptable. That’s why we need your help to pass House Bills 1898, 1953, and 1959.
We can do this. Send a letter to your legislator now >>
Thank you for everything that you do and have done,
Sincerely,
Brock Howell & Kate Whiting
Field Team
Transportation for Washington
Just called and got through to both Reps. Carlyle and Tarleton’s aides. Whole thing took under 5 minutes. They were very nice on the phone. Carlyle seems in our camp on this one. Tarleton may need some pushing just to know that these bills need a vote and she can help with that effort.
E-mail already sent earlier this week.
Just sent a customized email to my 37th LD Reps, Pettigrew and Santos. Thanks for the heads up!
Me, too, for the 37th.
Make that three for the 37th.
Any specific legislators it might make more sense to target? I’m in the 36th and think that Carlyle and Tarleton are basically on board. I did email Tarleton late last week.
Typically if you’re not in their district your input is not as valuable. Now if you have friends in *other* districts…
Besides being a good way to prevent congestion and save money
Prevent congestion, I understand. Restore PT funding and I-5 will be clear sailing all the way from the Tacoma Dome past JBLM. But how exactly do the higher taxes save money? I just don’t get the whole, “the more you spend the more you save” mantra. I guess we just have to do it for the thousands of people taking the bus to kidney dialysis.
Thanks for alert: called my Reps Pedersen and Chopp to emphasize importance of supporting this package of transit funding bills.
Sent emails to Chopp and Pedersen (who are obvious supporters), and got a positive response back from a Chopp aide.
These bills are not subject to today’s cutoff. They will remain alive through the end of the session. Thank you for advocating for them, but they are unlikely to pass today, and don’t despair in that case.
Please support transit funding bills.