Safe Passing Legislation: March 18, 2009 Update

House Committee Hearing Scheduled:
The 2009 Safe Passing bill, House Bill HB 827 will be heard by the Texas State House Committee on Transportation on Tuesday, March 24 at 8:00 am, in room E2.014. Visit www.biketexas.org/safepassing for more details.

New Authors/Coauthors:
Welcome to the senator and representatives who have recently signed on to the bill! Senator Wendy Davis is now a coauthor of Senate Bill 488, filed by Senators Rodney Ellis and John Carona. Representatives Carol Kent and Eddie Lucio have joined Representative Linda Harper-Brown as Joint Authors of HB 827, and Representative Ellen Cohen is a coauthor.

March 4, 2009:
BikeTexas staff and volunteers met with every House and Senate office and spread the message about the Safe Passing Bill. We had the pleasure of delivering gifts of 181 Planet Bike floor bike pumps, one to each legislator, to bring attention to the Safe Passing Bill, SB 488 and HB 827.

March 11, 2009:
On March 11, the 2009 Safe Passing Act (SB 488) was scheduled to be heard by the Texas State Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security. However, the Senate Transportation Hearing was postponed at the last minute in the wake of the March 10th all-night debate in the Senate on the Voter ID Bill. We expect the Senate Transportation Hearing for SB 488 will soon be rescheduled, and we’ll let you know the new date in the Senate and the House.

What You Can Do Now

• Come to BikeTexas Cyclists in Suits on April 20th at 8:30 a.m. to visit your state legislator’s office. (See adjacent article).
• Check BikeTexas.org frequently for current information, and read our Action Alert and Event Update emails. BikeTexas uses the “Action Alert” as judiciously as possible to direct action to the moments in the political process that will produce the greatest benefit.
• Follow the two bills at Texas Legislature Online, including review of the most current text.
• Check the “Who represents me?” link here to identify the elected officials who represent you in Washington as well as in Austin.
• Twitter BikeTexas! For those of you who are always on the go, yet who want to stay tuned to timely Action Alerts and Event Updates via your cell phone, we’ve just set up a BikeTexas Twitter Account. Check out twitter.com/BikeTexas and “follow us” toward a Safe Passing Bill and other news this legislative session.