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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Grrr... Hearing Cancelled

The Safe Passing Bill was up for discussion today in the Senate Transportation Committee (Texas). Cyclists were going to show up in great numbers to show their support but were derailed when the Senate cancelled the hearing due to the Voter ID issue that has just about everyone up in arms. The testimony on the Voter ID issue began yesterday and ran late into the evening. They were still discussing it when I clicked off the TV at 10:30 last night. It's a little disheartening for the Safe Passing bill because we were really gaining momentum. Last week, BikeTexas volunteers (me!) and staffers promoted the bill at the Capitol on Wednesday. Then on Thursday (or maybe it was Friday), Rep. Harper-Brown generated more excitement by promoting the bill to her House colleagues. On Friday, BikeTexas sent out an Action Alert informing it membership and the community about the Hearing this week and encouraging all to contact the Committee members and to show up at the Hearing. We had momentum. We had excitement. Now, the meeting is cancelled and we sit on pins and needles waiting for it to be rescheduled, hopefully in a timely matter. Ahhh, the joys of working with (and within) the Legislature. Stay tuned and be ready to run to the Capitol on short notice. You never know what's going to happen!