On Nov. 9, 2011, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Cali.), voted in support of S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21) Act.  The measure is a two-year transportation funding authorization bill that specifies what transportation programs are approved to receive federal dollars. Unfortunately, this bill also includes a provision to eliminate dedicated funds for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which provides money to states to develop and maintain trails and to educate trail users.

The RTP funds represent a portion of the federal motor fuel excise tax collected only from non-highway recreational fuel use. In other words, the RTP is a “user-pay/user-benefit” program for off-highway vehicle recreation, which includes snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), off-highway motorcycles and off-highway light trucks.

By eliminating this program’s dedicated funds and diverting these fees away from the RTP, MAP-21 is creating what is essentially a new tax on responsible motorized recreationists.

Since S. 1813 was approved by the  EPW Committee, it will now be considered by the full Senate. A date for that vote has not been scheduled, so there is still time to appeal to your Senators.

The AMA needs you to call your Senators today and ask them to amend S. 1813 to restore dedicated funding to the RTP.

To call your Senators, click on “Take Action” to insert your zip code in the “Call Action” box to get your Senators’ phone numbers. Or, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators by name.