Hello Friend,

Although there is little time remaining before your Members return home for the month of August, there is still plenty of work to be done.  With the Senate finalizing changes to the climate bill, we need to make a hard push for support on CLEAN-TEA, connecting transportation and climate change.

Once your representatives return home, you can continue to engage them by organizing a local release of the Stranded at the Station report (all about local transit cuts).  Join our Partner call this Thursday at 3pm to learn about all the details of this and other projects.

Best,
Ilana Preuss

Report from Washington

With only a week left in session, the House will likely pass a $3 billion patch to the Highway Trust Fund to get us through September and Senate will probably follow suit next week.  When Congress resumes after the recess, the Senate will be introducing a Climate Change bill (hopefully including CLEAN TEA language) and the debate over the transportation bill will heat up.  Stay tuned for more details.

Take Action

Release Report at the Local Level:
On August 18th, T4America and TEN are releasing a national report on transit cuts: Stranded at the Station.  The report gives in-depth profiles of the fare increases and service or staff reductions in 25 different locations.  Help get the word out on the local level by doing a release in your region.  Learn more about the report here, and tune in to Thursday's partner call to talk all about how to do a local release and get your own media exposure on this report.

Take Your Legislator to Work Challenge:
T4America, with the help of our local partners, is challenging a handful of legislators to take alternative transportation for a week while home in district.  Check out the list of targets; if you don't see your member, but want to Challenge your legislator to participate, check out this toolkit to organize the events and media.

Partners in the News

TransForm, along with other organizations and community leaders, conducted a mock funeral for public transportation in Oakland, California, to mourn the service cuts and fare hikes proposed by transit service providers throughout the Bay Area. Washington state's Transportation Choices Coalition hosted a "Tuxes and Trains" gala to celebrate the grand opening of Seattle's new LINK light rail system, with guests including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. And tomorrow, the T4 Montana coalition will officially introduce itself at a press conference; contact C.B. Pierson, T4 Montana field organizer, for more information, and keep an eye on the T4 America blog for more details following the event!