"Speak Up Against the House Bill" Alert

Thanks to the opposition of too many to count from around the country, leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives were forced to abandon the draft House bill, H.R. 7, as it had been passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Please stay tuned as Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) monitors the progress of our nation's next transportation bill and works to ensure that it adequately addresses our nation's needs for a multimodal transportation system.

Below, please see background from the original alert.

Some are calling it "the worst bill ever." From a trails vantage point, it's hard to disagree.

H.R. 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012, is truly atrocious for many reasons. If it passes the House floor and becomes law as it now stands, the bill would:

• Eliminate dedicated funding for trails, walking and bicycling;
• Destroy a 30-year precedent of long-term dedicated funding for transit;
• Do away with the rail-trail eligibility category in the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program;
• Put our children in harm's way by eliminating the Safe Routes to School program;
• Fail to maximize its job creation potential, since trail, walking and bicycling projects create substantially more jobs per dollar than do highway projects;
• Increase America's dependence on foreign oil; and
• Contribute to our growing health and obesity crises.

Since the bill is so far beyond repair, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is joining a tremendous coalition of groups across the political spectrum to defeat this bill when it comes to the House floor.

Please ask your U.S. representative to vote "no" on this horrendous bill.

We encourage you to personalize your message to give it the greatest possible impact.

Thank you!