Our Motorized Trail Funding is Under Attack

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Motorized Trails Funding Under Attack

EASY LINK to Call Boxer's Office HERE with response form to fill out for AMA.

Tell Your Senator to Continue Critical Trails Funding

TAKE ACTION LINK TO FIND YOUR SENATOR

Call Your Senator Now!

On Nov. 4, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released its proposed transportation funding authorization bill for the next two years, which specifies what transportation programs are approved for federal funding. This bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), eliminates the dedicated funds for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which provides dollars to states to develop and maintain trails.

The RTP funds come from the federal Highway Trust Fund and represent a portion of the federal motor fuel excise tax collected from non-highway recreational fuel use. In other words, the RTP is a user-pay/user-benefit program for off-highway vehicle recreation, which includes snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), off-highway motorcycles and off-highway light trucks.

By eliminating this program's dedicated funds and diverting these fees away from trails, MAP-21 is creating what is essentially a new tax on responsible motorized recreationists.

If your Senator is on the committee that can change this bill, they need to hear from you immediately. This bill is scheduled for a vote by the EPW Committee on Wednesday, November 9, which makes calling the Senators on the committee the best way to get your message heard.

The Senators that need to be contacted are: Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Michael Crapo (R-Idaho) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

Also, Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), David Vitter (R-La.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

To call your Senator on the committee, click on Take Action to insert your zip code in the Call Action box to get your Senators phone number. Or, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator by name.

Call your Senator on the committee now and tell them to amend the transportation authorization bill to include the RTP as it exists in current law. RTP, as we now know it, is a user-pay/user-benefit program and eliminating it would create what is essentially a new tax on you and their other constituents that participate in responsible motorized recreation.

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More from the AMA on this........

Barbara Boxer is on the Panel, and she is our Senator....

EASY LINK to Call Boxer's Office HERE with response form to fill out for AMA.

Nov. 4, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Senate panel wants to kill trail funding program

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- A U.S. Senate committee has unveiled a draft proposal that would end the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which provides money to states to develop and maintain trails, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

On Nov. 4, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released its proposed transportation funding authorization bill for the next two years, entitled "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century" (MAP-21). The bill specifies what transportation programs are approved for federal funding. The panel is expected to vote on the bill on Nov. 9 before sending it to the full Senate for approval. If it clears the Senate, then it would go to the House for further consideration.

The RTP, which became law in 1991 as part of a federal transportation funding authorization bill, is considered to be one of the most important and beneficial laws for off-highway vehicle (OHV) riders ever passed by Congress.

AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman, who had a hand in creating the law in 1991 with BlueRibbon Coalition founder Clark Collins, has stated that abolishing the program would effectively create a tax increase on OHV riders because the RTP funds would no longer be designated for a program that benefits motorized trail users.

Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations, was shocked by the committee's proposal.

"Motorcyclists should not be cut short," Allard said. "They pay the gasoline taxes that go to sustain the trails program. Many interests pull from the highway fund and do not pay into it. It becomes akin to a tax increase to the general fund.

"This program was created for trail users and is self-funded by the highway fuel taxes of trail users," Allard said. "Trail users see this program as a very essential part of their chosen form of recreation, and there's no reason to eliminate the program. The RTP pays for itself."

Funds for the RTP come from the federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion of the federal motor fuel excise tax collected from non-highway recreational fuel use. In other words, taxes generated by fuel used for OHV recreation -- by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), off-highway motorcycles and off-highway light trucks -- fund the RTP.

The RTP provides funds to the states to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance program of the U.S. Transportation Department's Federal Highway Administration. The RTP program benefits hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, ATV riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles.

"I urge all concerned riders to contact the members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and ask them to support continued funding for the Recreational Trails Program," Allard said. "Money for the program comes from off-highway riders, and should continue to be used to benefit off-highway riders."

The easiest way to contact lawmakers is by going to AmericanMotorcyclist.com > Rights > Issues & Legislation.

The members of the committee are Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Michael Crapo (R-Idaho) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

Also, Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), David Vitter (R-La.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

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I am asking EVERYONE, and urging you to please make the call to Boxer's office.

Took 2 minutes. Yeah, it was an answering machine, but you leave a message with what the AMA says to state, and you're done. They check those machines frequently and count how many calls they get on issues.

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Reminding everyone to PLEASE take a couple minutes to call Boxer's office and leave a message. Links on how to do it above.

If we let them take away the funding, we're screwed.

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LAST DAY to call Boxer........

If your Senator is on the committee (Boxer is) that can change this bill, they need to hear from you immediately. This bill is scheduled for a vote by the EPW Committee on Wednesday, November 9, which makes calling the Senators on the committee the best way to get your message heard.