discussion-l Mailing List: BikeAthens Discussion: Fwd: Eliminate all funding for Amtrak and transit construction? Tell them "No!"

[amy johnson (amy47johnson]

See below for an action item on federal Transit funding.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stephen Lee Davis, Transportation for America <info [at] t4america.org>
Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 2:24 PM
Subject: Eliminate all funding for Amtrak and transit construction? Tell them "No!"
To: amy47johnson [at] gmail.com

Dear Amy, The complete elimination of federal funding for core transit services.  That’s what the new Republican Study Committee is proposing. Let your legislators know that these transit programs matter to you  – sign the petition today! The recently released budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee cuts federal funding for transit. And it doesn’t stop there. Amtrak gets cut to zero. It eliminates New Starts, the transportation program that funds all new transit projects in the country, and slashes high-speed rail funding — the same program touted by President Obama to great fanfare in last week’s State of the Union. It even chops all federal funding for Washington DC’s transit authority, the very transit system that legislators’ staff and neighbors rely on every day to get to and from work. This budget is a trial-balloon for the budget fight to come. We need to waste no time making it clear that these kinds of cuts are short-sighted and unacceptable. Sign our petition objecting to this assault on public transportation funding. We’ll deliver the petition with your signature along with a letter from us and our partners to lawmakers. The plan from the Republican Study Committee, which represents 165 of the 242 Republican members of Congress, calls for eliminating the $1.5 billion annual payment for Amtrak, $2.5 billion in high-speed rail grants and $150 million in annual funding for Metro. The lawmakers who crafted this budget clearly aren’t aware that millions of Americans – including their own constituents – rely on passenger rail and the types of transit projects these programs fund. These are also the very projects that pay far-reaching dividends. Study after study has shown that every dollar spent on public transportation generates more jobs than any other form of transportation spending. This proposed budget cuts the investments that create the most jobs – an especially poor decision in the face of a recovering economy. We can keep this proposal from becoming law if we speak up now and make it clear that Americans aren’t going to sit by as federal investments in transit are gutted. Sign our petition to protect federal support for transportation and jobs! Thank you, once again, for all you do. Sincerely, Stephen Lee Davis Deputy Communications Director Transportation for America

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Transportation For America info [at] t4america.org
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