We are sad to announce, on the eve of Bike to School Day, that the Senate State Affairs Committee voted to kill the Safe Routes to School program yesterday. A huge thank you to everyone who replied to our Action Alert to contact their Senator. Senators reported hearing from you, but alas, we came up short.

In a 3-2 vote, Senators Hill, Scott and Sonnenberg voted to postpone the bill indefinitely, effectively ending funding for the program in the state’s budget.

We would like to thank Representatives Tyler and Mitsch Bush and Senator Todd for their sponsorship of this bill. And we thank all of the organizations that supported this bill.

We believe this is a program that saves lives, improves health and builds better communities, and we will seek ways to continue helping kids across the state. Grants have been awarded for the 2015-16 school year and funding is in place for those programs. This bill aimed to continue the funding into the following school year.