Legislators are coming back to the state capitol after taking a summer recess and with your company’s help, the message will be clear: It’s time to fix our roads.
MITA has made it a goal that legislator offices will receive over 1,000 calls from the toll-free number by the end of September. It has taken almost two months for 372 calls to be made by the entire Michigan Transportation Team Coalition. (To see a spreadsheet of which legislators have received calls, click here.)
With this aggressive initiative, MITA staff is hopeful that member companies will select a “call day” within their company. On that specific day, all employees from the receptionists to the field staff to the CEO are encouraged to spend five minutes to call the specially created MITA toll-free number and send a message to their legislators.
The message is simple: I live in your district, Michigan roads stink, we have a crisis in funding and after four years of waiting, it’s time for legislators to find a solution. (For a copy of the MITA toll-free paycheck stuffer, click here.)
Callers to the toll-free number, 1-888-719-3087, are prompted to enter their home zip code. They will then be asked to select among the legislators who represent their area and they will be transferred to the office. It is very unlikely that callers will actually be connected directly to their elected official, but leaving a message with staff will have the same impact.
Once the caller leaves a message, they are asked to call the toll-free one more time. It is important that one phone call go to the representative and one phone call go to the senator.
MITA staff is willing to come to your office on your designated calling day to provide background information and help oversee an hour of phone calls.
Why now?
As this fall comes to a close, legislators become less and less likely to take action on road funding for an entire year because 2010 is an election year. Now is the time to do your part. Without a new funding stream, the MDOT Highway Program faces a 35 percent decline in 2010 and an over 60 percent decline in 2011 because of the state’s inability to match federal dollars.
To sign your company up for the Pavement Pounders Plus Program, please feel free to contact Mike Nystrom at mikenystrom@mi-ita.com or Keith Ledbetter at keithledbetter@mi-ita.com or call the MITA office at 517-347-8336 with any questions or comments.
