SUPPORT GOVERNOR BROWN’S TRANSIT FUNDING BUDGET!

TRANSIT LOBBY DAY – MARCH 30th
The Citizen Hotel, Sacramento

Hundreds of millions of dollars in state new transit funding are threatened by the recent passage of Proposition 26. Our own successful measure to protect transit funding, Proposition 22, could provide the highest State Transit Assistance program ever, as well as protect vital Public Transportation Account funds for other priorities, such as intercity rail – but, Prop. 26 also threatens those dollars…

Luckily, Governor Jerry Brown proposed an elegant solution in his 2011-12 state budget. Thus, we need you to come to Sacramento to support Governor Brown’s budget proposal, and to educate all legislators about the importance of maintaining critical public transit funding.

Transit Lobby Day is our first chance this year to inform Sacramento policymakers about the impact of recent budget cuts and the need to restore transit funding per Governor Brown’s proposal. Therefore, it is vital that all members of the Association participate in this year’s annual event.

Click here to view the preliminary program for Transit Lobby Day 2011

We will be making appointments with all 120 legislators, and representatives of Governor Brown. Please identify a broad-based team of transit supporters to bring from your agency and surrounding communities, in order to lobby these officials about the importance of public transit and supporting our efforts to protect transit revenues. Your team could possibly include some mix of your general manager, legislative affairs manager, governing board members, transit suppliers, activists from disabled and elderly groups, influential local business persons, environmental group representatives, and / or transit rider advocates.

We are currently in the process of setting up meetings with as many officials as possible for this day. We will then assign teams of 4-5 transit representatives to meet with each legislator. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE YOUR OWN APPOINTMENTS. While we will strive to ensure each legislator will meet at least one transit representative from his/her district, the purpose of Transit Lobby Day is to provide legislators with a picture of the diverse transit systems and services across the state, not simply to match transit agencies with only their legislative delegations. We encourage you to meet with your delegation to discuss your local issues at other times throughout this year.

Please register by February 16th for this free event. Click here to register online.

The Citizen Hotel is offering guest rooms at a discounted rate of $159, plus 12 percent tax. Please call (916) 492-4460 by March 16 and inform the hotel that you are with the California Transit Association.