Date: 04/15/2009 pstrongBLUERIBBON COALITION PARTNER ACTION ALERT!/strong/ppstrongUPDATE FROM WOHVA ON BUDGET LEGISLATION/strong/ppstrongDear BRC members, supporters and action alert subscribers, /strong/ppYesterday we received an update from Tod Petersen, Political Action Committee Chairman for the Washington Off-Highway Vehicle Alliance (WOHVA) http://www.wohva.org/, about the Legislatures efforts to loot the Nonhighway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) funds./ppSadly, the provision is still in the budget. Tod says we'll need to get a lot of calls and emails in to legislators if we are going to stop this robbery./ppI've posted his latest update below. Please take a second to look it over and take action./ppI also wanted to give Tod a huge thank you. If you aren't a member of WOHVA, please consider joining today. Tod's efforts at the capitol have certainly earned the support of all of Washington's OHV enthusiasts./ppstrongThanks in advance for your involvement,/strongbr /Brian Hawthornebr /Public Lands Policy Directorbr /BlueRibbon Coalitionbr /208-237-1008 ext 107/ppSubject: budget legislation update/ppHowdy Folks,br /nbsp;br /Here is how the budget legislation is shaking out.br /There are three basic groups of budget bills.br /Capital, operating and transportation.br /nbsp;br /There are two capital budget bills, HB1216 and SB5222. The House version (HB1216) will be the one that gets passed. It is currently in the House Rules committee and will move to the full House soon.nbsp; It earmarks some of the NOVA money for specific projects. About $100K for mapping and about $400k for noise enforcement grants.nbsp; I don't like the way the noise enforcement language is written, but don't think that we'll get much traction toward changing it./ppThere are four transportation budget bills, HB1313, HB1314, SB5351 and SB5352. Senate bill SB5352 will be the one that gets passed. Both the Senate and House have already passed it and it now awaits the Governor's signature.nbsp; This bill does not contain any ORV related language. HB1313 and HB5351 are supplemental appropriations bills, neither has moved, but I'll be watching if they do./ppThere are four operating budget bills, HB1243, HB1244, SB5407 and SB5600. HB1244 has made the most progress so far, but the final result will be a compromise between House and Senate versions.nbsp; HB1244 is the bill that steals all $9m of our NOVA funds for the next two years.nbsp; Last week about 80 amendments were passed while in the House Ways and Means committee. None of them fixed the problem. It is now with the House Rules committee and will soon be before the full House of Representatives for consideration.nbsp; In addition to a ton of emails and phone calls, a few days ago I sent a letter to each of the 98 members of the House of Representatives. We need to continue to fight this and increase our efforts.br /nbsp;br /Link to spreadsheet for details on each budget bill: br /http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/BillTracking_2009_Tod.pdfbr /Link to WOHVA Budget Bill Flyer: br /http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/WOHVA_Budget_Bill_Flyer.pdf/ppHappy trails,br /Tod/ppnbsp;nbsp;/ppnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;/ppnbsp;The Washington State Legislature has proposed redirecting all of the money from the Non Highway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) account for the next two years and put it into the general fund./ppThis amounts to the theft of over $9 million dollars from ORV users in Washington State./ppThe NOVA account was created when offroad vehicle users volunteered to waive their legal right to a fuel tax refund in exchange for a self-directed state account to provide funding for programs that benefited offroad vehicle activities./ppThese same citizens volunteered to have their license tab fees increased so long as those monies were also placed in the NOVA account./ppTo redirect the funding away from the NOVA account would be nothing short of stealing from the very same citizens that willing gave the state their hard earned money./ppFurthermore, these funds are protected by the Washington State Constitution. Pursuant to Article II, Section 40 these monies must be used for their intended purpose or refunded. The State Supreme court has repeatedly reaffirmed this requirement./ppIf you think that this Legislative theft stinks, let them know!/ppCitizens of Washington can contact their State Senator and both House of Representatives members by going to www.leg.wa.gov or leave a phone message at 1-800-562-6000./ppOther concerned folks should contact Governor Christine Gregoire via the web at http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/default.aspnbsp; or leave her a phone message at 360-902-4111/ppYou can also let the Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman know how you feel by emailing her at fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov/ppThanks,/ppTod Petersenbr /Vice President - Northwest Motorcycle Associationbr /Political Action Committee Chairman - Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliancebr /www.nmaoffroad.org and www.whova.org/pimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/BlueRibbonCoalition/~4/VWdSPXQrYvY" height="1" width="1"/
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