Welcome to the 2017 Legislative Session, which started in February and ends in early July. Following is the monthly update from the For Every Kid Coalition and our Statewide Campaign. Learn how YOU can make safe routes to school for every kid in Oregon; here are three ways to engage:
1. Meet with your representatives: share stories about Safe Routes to School programs…they need to hear them!
2. How a bill becomes a law: the story of our Safe Routes to School bill.
3. Upcoming opportunities to engage: Lobby Day and Safe Routes to School town hall events.
#1. Elected leaders need to meet you and hear about your walking school bus (or other SRTS activities). Your stories about how Safe Routes to School education and encouragement programs have helped students and families make the jump to walking and biking to school are needed now more than ever. Making streets safe is important. Know what else is important? Teaching students the ins and outs of walking and biking safely; this is the message our leaders need to hear right now, so they prioritize the programs needed to make SRTS successful. Your representatives are in Salem for the Legislative Session, but many return to their districts on the weekends. Now is a great time to contact your representative. Share your stories about bike and pedestrian safety education, walking school buses, Walk+Bike to School Day, and any other Safe Routes to School program that has impacted your life. Also, please join us on March 6th for Lobby Day in Salem; RSVP today!
#2. How a bill becomes a law: the story of our Safe Routes to School initiative. Currently, our funding ask for Safe Routes to School is a legislative concept. The draft includes dedicated funding for Safe Routes to School programs and street safety projects prioritizing Title 1 schools (where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch). In the upcoming weeks, asks like ours will be shaped into bills with help and leadership from Oregon Representatives, lawyers and community members…that’s when the long journey toward law begins! See the green circles in the infographic? That’s where YOU come in…when you’re most needed to make phone calls, send emails, or show up to testify for Safe Routes to School. YOU can make this bill a reality!
#3. Upcoming Safe Routes to School Lobby Day, Town Hall Meetings and Testimony Workshops: We need you and your experiences to help make a safe route to school for every kid in Oregon. Come to our Lobby Day on March 6th in Salem; stick around for our Safe Routes to School Town Hall and testimony training on March 7th. Thanks to our partners in Eugene, Redmond, Seaside, East Portland, and Klamath Falls for making the first five town halls in this series a success!
For Every Kid is a growing coalition of community, public health, and social justice organizations who are seeking to ensure safe routes to school for every kid across Oregon. Coalition Leaders include American Heart Association, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, The Street Trust (formerly the Bicycle Transportation Alliance), Commute Options, Oregon Walks, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, OPAL Environmental Justice, Community Alliance of Tenants, the Community Cycling Center, advocates from Eugene and Medford, and many more. Read more about the coalition at ourhealthystreets.org/foreverykid.