A Second Call for Action from NYSSA
and your President Mike Fischer:

In Phase I of our campaign, we have called on every one of our Club Presidents and their members to write and fax letters to their respective Senators and Assembly Members.  Now, we are ready to implement Phase II - reaching out to Governor Paterson and Budget Director Megna.

We at NYSSA have been working with our lobbyists to take whatever actions are necessary to oppose this unwarranted sweep of our money from the trail fund and the expanded language in Part HH of Budget Bill S6609/A9709.  We have been reaching out to the Legislature and asking for their help to correct this intolerable situation.

As President of NYSSA, I have gone to Albany and met with key Assembly Members, Senators and the Secretary to the Senate Finance Committee to express our opposition to the language in Part HH of Budget Bill S6609/A9709 that would expand the allowable use of monies in the snowmobile trail fund to include "public safety activities," and urge that this language be removed from the budget as well as express our opposition to this unprecedented sweep from the trail fund.

I am calling on every one of our Club Presidents and their members to fax a letter and place calls to Governor David Paterson and New York State Budget Director Robert Megna asking them to rescind the $1 million sweep of the Snowmobile Trail Fund and to remove the language in Part HH of Budget Bill S6609/A9709.

We are providing all of you with the  model letters below in order to ensure a clear, consistent, and resolute message. Club officers: please use the attached Governor and Budget Director model letter and copy them to your Club Letterhead.  Club members should make sure to sign their letters and include their home address.

Letter to the Governor (Word)

Letter to the Governor (PDF)

Letter to the Budget Director (Word)

Letter to the Budget Director (PDF)

Fax your letters to both the Governor and Budget Director as soon as possible. We must act quickly to let them know about our opposition to this unwarranted action. Please fax your letters to the following:

• Fax line for Governor Paterson: 518-474-1513
• Fax line for Director Megna: 518-402-2298

We request that telephone calls be made to the Governor's Office and Division of the Budget.  Before any call is made, please use the talking points below when speaking with the Governor's Office and Division of the Budget. 

Talking Points - Governor Paterson - PDF

Talking Points - Division of Budget - PDF

Please remember to be polite and courteous throughout your conversations with both offices.  To voice your opinion please call the following:

• Telephone line for Governor Paterson: 518-474-8390
• Telephone line for Division of Budget: 518-473-3885

We ask that you continue sending letters to your respective Senators and Assembly Members.  You can determine who your Senator or Assembly Members are by using the zip code look-up device at going to the following sites:

Find Your Senator

Find Your Assembly Person

The NYS Board of Election: 
http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/

You can get the fax numbers of your legislators from the Senate and Assembly sites.

Please act quickly and send your letters and make your calls.  Thanks for your attention to this most pressing issue facing NYSSA and the clubs.

Mike Fischer

NYSSA President