If you live in Texas, read on and spread it around.
Governor Perry vetoed a $35B education budget and called a special session, so we may have another chance to get Article 9 of the original House Bill 3540 considered to help fund some of the education budget.
I would suggest contacting your senator and house representative and pointing out that their own fiscal analysis showed a $5M/year savings associated with not requiring a front license plate. That fiscal note assumed the savings would go back in to the transportation budget, but there is no reason some can't go to education also.
This time, I also copied our local news investigation team at WFAA. Not sure they will care much about this, but I would have to think that $5M/year will get someone's attention. Please have a look at your own local news website and see if they have an email ID you can copy. It just might yield interesting results.
Details on the bill can be found here:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-...&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=03540
In case this is new for you, it was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, where it was also passed, but Senator Steve Ogden introduced an amendment to remove Article 9 (see last item on last page). The House & Senate versions were different and both sides didn't reach agreement before running out of time. Never went to the governor, but wouldn't have mattered to us with Article 9 removed.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/data/docmodel/79r/amndtext/pdf/HB0354023F1.PDF
My email is short and to the point. I'm not counting on much attention from my legislators, but wanted them to see that the news team was copied also. I'm hoping that triggers a reaction.
Governor Perry vetoed a $35B education budget and called a special session, so we may have another chance to get Article 9 of the original House Bill 3540 considered to help fund some of the education budget.
I would suggest contacting your senator and house representative and pointing out that their own fiscal analysis showed a $5M/year savings associated with not requiring a front license plate. That fiscal note assumed the savings would go back in to the transportation budget, but there is no reason some can't go to education also.
This time, I also copied our local news investigation team at WFAA. Not sure they will care much about this, but I would have to think that $5M/year will get someone's attention. Please have a look at your own local news website and see if they have an email ID you can copy. It just might yield interesting results.
Details on the bill can be found here:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-...&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=03540
In case this is new for you, it was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, where it was also passed, but Senator Steve Ogden introduced an amendment to remove Article 9 (see last item on last page). The House & Senate versions were different and both sides didn't reach agreement before running out of time. Never went to the governor, but wouldn't have mattered to us with Article 9 removed.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/data/docmodel/79r/amndtext/pdf/HB0354023F1.PDF
My email is short and to the point. I'm not counting on much attention from my legislators, but wanted them to see that the news team was copied also. I'm hoping that triggers a reaction.
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Senators & Representatives,
If in any way possible, please consider including the original article 9 from HB3540. Per the fiscal note, "Regarding the issuance and display of license plates in Article 9, the Department of Transportation estimates net savings in Fund 006 of approximately $5,000,000 each year for reduced license plate manufacturing costs; however, it is assumed that any savings realized from the implementation of the bill would be used for other eligible transportation related expenditures.", maybe some of the savings can be applied to school funding.