Support a smarter stimulus

The economic recovery package now under consideration is a tremendous opportunity for Maine to begin building a greener, innovation-driven economy. GrowSmart Maine is working with the national Transportation for America coalition to support smarter transportation spending, with a greater focus on energy-efficient, non-highway transportation, a "fix it first" approach for road investments, and improved accountability measures across the board. Please write or call your Senators today!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Support a Smarter Stimulus

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

The economic recovery package now under consideration is a tremendous opportunity for Maine to build a greener, innovation-driven new economy. Thanks to your commitment to bipartisanship, you are in a strong position to create a smarter, more accountable stimulus plan in the Senate.

Mainers, like most of the nation, are spending a growing proportion of their incomes on transportation and energy. We need better alternatives than the status quo has to offer. At the same time, our state, like many others, has a massive backlog of road maintenance projects. It makes little sense to build new highways when we can't even afford to repair the roads and bridges we already have.

In order to ensure our infrastructure investments are both accountable and forward-thinking, then, we call on you to include a "fix it first" policy for the stimulus bill's highway investments. By prioritizing repair work over new construction, we can put more people to work more quickly, and keep the nation's road network as a whole in better condition.

We also ask you to strike a more equitable balance between highway investments and non-highway investments in our ports, railroads, bus services, ferries, and other energy-saving transportation modes.

Investments in new forms of mobility can reduce our state's vulnerability to oil price volatility, increase disposable income for Maine households, create new opportunities for economic development, and improve the "quality of place" of Maine communities.

We appreciate your leadership in these difficult times, and urge you to maintain a vision of a cleaner, more innovative, and more prosperous American economy for the years to come.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
February 04, 2009

Background Information

The economic recovery package now under consideration is a tremendous opportunity for Maine to build a greener, innovation-driven new economy. Mainers, like most of the nation, are spending a growing proportion of their incomes on transportation and energy. We need better alternatives than the status quo has to offer.

A "fix it first" policy for our roads would prioritize repair work over new construction to put more people to work more quickly, and keep the nation's road network as a whole in better condition.

At the same time, investments in new forms of mobility - including ports, railroads, and transit - can reduce our state's vulnerability to oil price volatility, increase disposable income for Maine households, create new opportunities for economic development, and improve the "quality of place" of Maine communities.

Maine's senators, thanks to their commitment to bipartisanship, have earned a strong bargaining position in the Senate's stimulus debates. We urge them to maintain a vision of a cleaner, more innovative, and more prosperous American economy for the years to come.