Some bad news on the Safe Passing Bill (SB 488) front, and what you can do about it.

I received a bit of disheartening news yesterday afternoon regarding SB 488, aka. the Safe Passing Bill. Our insider with the people sponsoring this bill sent me the following news:

A little bit of bad news: the committee hearing for SB 488 will be postponed indefinitely. Instead of pushing the schedule back one week, the clerk informed me that they will continue with the planned schedule, and the bills that would have been heard last week will be "fit in at some later time, maybe." Basically, there is no date now, and it might not be for another several weeks.

In the meantime, all we can do is flood the offices with support letters. If you could post this message, that would be great. Also, if you know any bike blogs that are Texas related, but not Austin-specific, let me know so I can forward it to them. I'm hoping we can find some people that are constituents of committee members.

Here's the gist of it:

If you want to express your support for the Safe Passing Bill that is currently going through the state's legislative process, go to this link to find out who represents you, and send your State Senator and State Representative an email letting them know how you feel. Make sure to include your address so that the office can confirm your residence in the district.

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members.htm
(at the bottom of the page)

All you have to say is, "As a cyclist, I support the safe-passing bill (SB 488) and its companion in the House (HB 827)."

Honestly, say whatever you'd like. Just mention the bill numbers and that you support them.
Forward this to anyone you know who would like to express their support.

(Also, if your Senator is Carona (chair and bill author), Watson (vice-chair), Davis (co-author), Ellis (bill author), Huffman, Nichols, Shapiro, Shapleigh, or Wentworth, they are on the Transportation Committee, which will be hearing the bill on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Urge them to support the bill in committee.)

If you're a constituent of any of the aforementioned representatives, PLEASE write them in support of this bill TODAY! They're going to be discussing it tomorrow so the more people who write now, the more weight they'll have when presenting their case to the rest of the Transportation Committee. Email has made being involved in politics on a local and state level a breeze, so GET TO IT folks, and lets see some actual change for a change. If you want more info on the Transportation Committee meeting, Rob D'Amico of the BicycleAustin Blog wrote about it last week.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop Willa, you freaking rule!