ACTION ALERT - Virtual Lobby Day, Thursday 3/11

[John Lindenmayer]

Read on for information on how you can be part of LMB’s Virtual Lobby day being held on Thursday March 11th in conjunction with the National Bike Summit!

Tomorrow is the start of the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC. The League of Michigan Bicyclists is leading a delegation of 13 Michigan cycling advocates to lobby for Complete Streets and more funding and federal support for bicycling in Michigan.

The advocacy action should be fast and furious!  LMB Associate Director will be tweeting updates live from the Summit.  You can follow us at http://twitter.com/MIBicyclists or by looking for the twitter sidebar on our website.   

Last week, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced a groundbreaking new bill to support bicycling and walking: the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R.4722) creates a competitive grant program with $2 Billion to help communities build bicycling and walking networks. For the first time, communities would be able to compete for multi-year funding to build active transportation systems, just as they do for transit and road infrastructure.  This new bill gives you the opportunity to do more than just hear about what we're doing at the Summit - you get to participate in a critically important way. On Thursday, March 11th, while we are visiting Congress in person, we need you to call your own Congressperson and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 4722, the Active Community Transportation Act, introduced by Congressman Blumenauer.

When you call, you can use these talking points:

• Bicycling and walking are part of the solution. Half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less, yet the majority of these short trips are made by car. Shifting more of these short trips to biking and walking would not only reduce congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and our dependence on oil, but will also improve physical activity safety, and livability.
• Investing in bicycling and walking infrastructure works.  Commuting by bicycle has increased 43 percent since 2000 - and by 69 percent in designated Bicycle Friendly Communities that have invested in infrastructure improvements.
• Please co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R.4722).
  

Here are the phone numbers for all the Michigan Congresspeople:   

• Senator Carl Levin (D- MI)   202-224-6221
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (D- MI)  202-224-4822
• Representative Bart Stupak (D - 01)  202-225-4735
• Representative Pete Hoekstra (R - 02)  202-225-4401
• Representative Vern Ehlers (R - 03)  202-225-3831
• Representative Dave Camp (R - 04)  202-225-3561
• Representative Dale E. Kildee (D - 05)  202-225-3611
• Representative Fred Upton (R - 06)  202-225-3761
• Representative Mark Schauer (D - 07)  202-225-6276
• Representative Mike Rogers (R - 08)  202-225-4872
• Representative Gary Peters (D - 09)  202-225-5802
• Representative Candice Miller (R - 10)  202-225-2106
• Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R - 11)  202-225-8171
• Representative Sandy Levin (D - 12)  202-225-4961
• Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick (D - 13)  202-225-2261
• Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D - 14)  202-225-5126
• Representative John D. Dingell (D - 15)  202-225-4071
  

Don't know who your Congressperson is?  Visit http://capwiz.com/lab/home/  and enter your address to find out.

Learn more about the ACT Act at:
http://blumenauer.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1606&Itemid=1

Download the issue paper on the ACT Act (and Complete Streets Bill) at:
http://michigancompletestreets.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/virtual_lobbyday.pdf

Please don't forget to call on Thursday, March 11th, to be part of the National Bike Summit Lobby Day.

--
John Lindenmayer
Associate Director
League of Michigan Bicyclists
(517) 334-9100
416 S. Cedar St, Suite A
Lansing, MI 48912

www.LMB.org
LMB on Facebook: http://facebook.com/LeagueofMichiganBicyclists
LMB on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/mibicyclists