A call for Action from NYSSA and your new President Mike Fischer:

You already are painfully aware that the Budget Director has swept $1,000,000.00 from the Snowmobile Trail fund. Through our lobbyists in Albany, we were able to find out what had happened.

On March 7th, acting in accordance with Section 15 of Part T of Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007, the Director of the Budget directed the State Comptroller’s office to transfer $100 million in available fund balances in Miscellaneous Special Revenue accounts to the state’s General Fund. The decision to transfer these funds was based on the state’s worsening financial condition, the pending Executive Budget (then under review by the Legislature), and an analysis of the projected cash flows for each account. Over 50 different Special Revenue accounts were affected, across many different agencies and programs. As part of this transfer of these funds, $1 million was transferred from the Snowmobile Trail Development and Management Account (339-41). While Parks strongly recommended to the Division of the Budget that this action not be taken, this transfer was made pursuant to the law and within the authority of the state Budget Director.

As President of NYSSA, I have sent a letter to the Governor strongly opposing this sweep of the $1 million from the trail fund and asked him to restore these funds. I also have already called upon all our club presidents and asked them to send letters to their respective Senators and Assemblymen. We at NYSSA have been working with our lobbyists to take whatever action necessary to oppose this unwarranted sweep of our money from the trail fund and to reach out to the Legislature and ask for their help to correct this intolerable situation.

I am calling on all of you, our club members and your families, to send a letter to the Governor, and to your respective Senator and Assemblyman asking their help in getting our $1 million restored to the Snowmobile Trail Fund. We are providing all of you with the attached model letters in order to ensure a clear, consistent, and resolute message. Please use the attached Governor, Senate and Assembly model letters.

We ask that you fax, email or mail your letters to the Governor and your respective Senator and Assemblyman as soon as possible. We must act quickly to let them know about our opposition to this unwarranted action by the Budget Director. It is preferable if you would fax or email the letters.

You can fax the Governor at: (518) 474-1513 or email him by going to this address http://161.11.121.121/govemail Fill out the required information then copy and paste your letter into the box marked Your Comments. If you cannot fax or email then mail you letter to the Governor by using the address provided on the model letter.

For the Senate and Assembly, you can get the fax numbers or emails by going to the Senate and Assembly sites: (Copy and Paste Link into your Browser)
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepa...nators?OpenForm
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

In addition to the fax numbers or emails, you can use these sites to determine who your Senator or Assemblyman is by using the zip code look-up device.

Please act quickly and send your letters by fax, email or mail. Thanks for your attention to this most pressing issue facing NYSSA and the clubs.

Letter to Governor
http://www.dragofspeculator.com/forms/Memb...eepGovernor.doc
Letter to your Senator
http://www.dragofspeculator.com/forms/Memb...SweepSenate.doc
Letter to you Assembly member
http://www.dragofspeculator.com/forms/Memb...eepAssembly.doc

Emailed my locals, Bruno,Silver and the Gov.

Done, I will pass it on also.

Hope it helps

Done! Took me less then 15 minutes.



25 views and only three responses! Come on guy, this is important!

done pretty easy hope EVERY new york RIDER on here does this it will help alot if we can get that amount of moey back! I don't mind spending more to reg my sled than my truck if the money stays in sleddin but to put it in the gen fund is just ludichris c'mon ok rant over!

maybe this should be pinned?

I have completed as requested.

sent message to governor.

Also done.

Anyone who lives in nys knew this would happen when the registration fees went up

THANK YOU NEW YORK STATE GOVERNMENT.

Letter sent to all..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished my letters and e mails to the approriate Officials.C'mon riders, its YOUR monies that was taken! Lets all get contacting your Officials to get this 1 million back and hope they try it again next year.

done.

I sent the e-mails last night and will send out letters tomorrow.

We, me and my wife, have emailed Gov. Patterson, Senator William Larkin, and Assemblyman Calhoun and Rabbit. That is a total of 8 emails sent my us.

Probably a good idea to pin this one-can get rid of the register early topic up top currently. NYSSA sent out an e-mail to it's 36,000 members listed with an e-mail address last night. We are prepping a mailing to all members right now.

Thanks,
Gary Broderick
Vice-President, NYSSA

just sent to all 3

If I just decided that my finances weren't as stable as they should be and took the money allocated for taxes and spent it on car insurance, I'm pretty certain that the government would have me arrested and in the end it would be my fault for not budgeting properly. But when congress does this shit we just have to pay more and more and more, republican/democrat blah blah blah its all the same.

fuckers!!!

Sent out....

Bigums, your logic is right on!!!

Emailed the Gov and my Senator. Had to call my Assemblymen,no email???

Thanks for the heads up.

Mark

done!, hope it works, see ya, ron

Sent email to both and sent a letter to the Gov.
Hope it does something. Added my own comments to it as well. Basically stated that they stole the money which wasn't even tax money to begin with. It's funded from my pocket and I'm not even living in their stupid state. I think that New Yorkers should pay for stuff in Pa with their tax money if they are taking mine !

Steve

Done sent my letters

Guys/Gals-

We have developed a letter for anyone form out of state to voice their concern to the governor. It's located here: http://nyssnowassoc.org/actionalert.shtml#letters

Thanks,
Gary

So far no replies from any of my e mails. I'm handwriting to them also, perhaps it will get a little more attention over of just an e mail.

Nice, huh? The more we send in, the less we will hear back individually-just a numbers game to these guys. But if we fill up the mailroom at the Capital or LOB buildings, that will say something to them. They understand numbers, not our blood, sweat and tears.

I got a response from Kolb but thats it so far. For what its worth he said he was against it and he voted "no" when they did it.

Voted no when they did it? Did he vote against the budget-because that's where it was buried. You'd think he would have sent up the alarms!

We are being heard! Lets keep it up!

Link to Assembly Bill

Link to Senate Bill


A special thanks needs to go out to Senator Maziarz and Assemblyman Hawley.

Good work everyone, keep the wheel turning.

Here is a letter from NYSSA for people from out of state!
http://cnysnowtravelers.com/actionalert/outofstategov.doc

I can only repeat what his email reply was, you'll have to ask him to expalin himself further.


BTW to the Original Poster of the thread, thanks for giving us a heads up on this. I know I should have heard about this on the news but I didn't so having it brought to my attention here was great. Thanks

Press release by Senator Maziarz:

SNOWMOBILERS ROBBED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, SENATOR MAZIARZ SAYS

$1 million diverted away from dedicated trail improvement fund;

Legislation introduced to prevent it from happening again

Senator George Maziarz (R-C, Newfane) today decried a recent move by the Division of the Budget to transfer $1,000,000 from the Snowmobile Trail Development Management Account into the state’s General Fund.

"This action undermines the credibility of the trail fund, violates a public trust, and will devastate our ability to adequately and safely maintain the state trail system," wrote Senator Maziarz in a letter to Governor David Paterson. "As a consequence this action will jeopardize the impact snowmobiling will have on the upstate winter economy."

Funds in the Snowmobile Trail Development Management Account derive from registration fees paid by snowmobilers. The revenues are supposed to be used to help maintain a statewide trail system for the benefit of the state’s 236 snowmobile clubs.

"This unwarranted sweep of the trail fund will force a lot of clubs out of business and may even shut the trail system down completely for next year, if something is not done to replenish the fund with the $1 million very soon," Senator Maziarz wrote.

Senator Maziarz and a number of his upstate colleagues are requesting that the decision to raid the snowmobile trail fund be reversed as soon as possible.

In order to prevent this situation from occurring in the future, Senator Maziarz has introduced legislation with Assemblyman Steve Hawley (S.7976/A.10732) that would prohibit the transfer of unexpended moneys from dedicated funds like the snowmobile trail fund into any other fund.

"This is a real problem for upstate communities and snowmobiling enthusiasts," Senator Maziarz said. "It needs a real solution, and if we have to pass a law to stop these fund raids from happening, that’s what we should do. Registration fees were collected for an explicit purpose, and they should be used for that purpose."

I have some questions. NYS snowmobile registration was always $45.00 per sled until what was it 2 years ago when the state came up with this "Snowmobile Trail Fund" and raised the registration to $100.00 per snowmobile if you are not a member of a snowmobile club and $45.00 per snowmobile if you are a member of a club - correct? The $45.00 has always gone to the state for registration, high priced hookers, etc. and now it still does and it is the $55.00 that goes into the "Snowmobile Trail Fund" - Am I correct in this assumtion? I am a member of a club so the state is only getting the $45.00 per snowmobile from me and the club is really physically getting my club dues so the money gets to where it should - the club. Wouldn't it make sense for everyone, and I mean everyone, to make sure they are a member of a club so that no money gets paid into this bogus "Snowmobile Trail Fund" and then these theiving bastard POS can not take our money????????????????? Wouldn't this be like extra protection so these POS can never do this again? By the way as I stated above me and my wife emailed our letters to the Gov, Senator, and assemblymen AND I forwarded the message to all the guys I ride with and hope they will do their part as well. We are all members of a club.

The trail fund was established around 1985. The reg. fee was $15 with $5 going to the DMV for administration costs and $10 to the trail fund. In the mid 90's the reg. fee was raised to $25, $5 to the DMV for administration costs and $20 to the trail fund. When SRRA was passed the fees went to $45 for club members and $100 for non members. The DMV now receives $10 for administration costs with the balance going to the trail fund. As you can see the majority of the reg. fee goes to the trail fund and is suppose to be returned for safety and trail maintenance.

Yesterday I was dropping the Hawley petition off at my town hall. I got talking to the town clerk and she stated that she was at an Ag & Markets conference last week and there was almost a riot when the subject of the sweep was brought up. They also swept the dedicated fund paid into when you license your dog ($3 is suppose to go to spaying and neutering strays). I believe this is why the legislation submitted by Assemblyman Hawley and Senator Mazierz is not specific to the trail fund. They are trying to protect a number of supposed dedicated funds..

Thanks for clearing that up. Was not sure how it all was suppose to work. These POS need to go to jail for doing this.

We are moving a little bit-please be patient-we are working everyday to reverse this. We are in Syracuse tonight and tomorrow working on this.

Gary Broderick
Vice-President, NYSSA

Don't you think NYSSA should have sent letters to every member with a form letter to sign and return to the proper people. E-mails are ok but not everyone is computer-literate or may not even have one. We all have mailboxes. NYSSA can use our addresses for other things, why not an important topic like this? They recieve bulk mail discounts. This to me is as important an issue than any other. I have sent e-mails to every politician i can think appropriate, but i know lots of people that are not on the computer and we are missing their input.
I also know that an e-mail was sent to all clubs, but if some clubs are as lax as our club, most members won't even know what's going on. I spoke to a few members yesterday that had no idea that the theft of funds had occurred. Wake up NYSSA, lets get all members on board for this so the money is returned and this never happens again.

I’m not in the know about exactly what the NYSSA has planned, but my guess would be that they are trying to look as financially responsible as possible and a mass mailing might not be in our best interest right now. What we are all doing now is working as is evident with the Bill that Senator Maziarz and Assemblyman Hawley have started. We just have to keep up the pressure!
Now, if we don’t get the results we’re hoping for shortly, I’d say go with your idea of a mass mailing. I would just include it in with the next issue of the New York Snowmobiler magazine.
And please remember that most of the people working on this are volunteers with full time jobs.
Don’t forger about all the petitions!

Assemblyman Steve Hawley's Petition




A Copy & paste from another thread.

We are discussing right now, doing a mass mailing to all 65,000 club members. Please make sure the letters you are doing-get your spouse, girl/boyfriend, sisters, brothers, friends neighbors, parents, in-laws and anyone else you can convince to send in these letters. I will be covering postage for anyone around here that is interested in signing one.......

Gary

C.R-

We are working on a mailing to all-and trying to get some sponsorshop money to do it also-even at a discounted, bulk mail rate, you are still talking about 65,000 letters, printed on paper, stuffed into enevelopes, addressed and postage applied, additionally, bulk mail has to be sorted by zip code, then mailed. That's why we've been asking YOU and everyone else to get in touch with everyone you know and get them to send letters.

You think NYSSA needs to wake up? NYSSA is awake and has been working this everyday since we found out about it. At what point do YOU wake up and realize that NYSSA is made up of member clubs from throughout the state-have you made up form letters and sent them to your club members? Have you initiated a phone call campaign to each of your members? At what point do you start carrying the load you expect a couple volunteers that work at the state level (who are also club members and officers of their own clubs) to carry for you? I take exception with your tone and attittude. Let me know what you are doing to fix this above and beyond what NYSSA has already done (and continues to do).

The easiest way to get the word out is local.

Received this from one of our Directors-at-large, from Yonkers, NY:

All,
Much to my surprise, I just received a phone call from an aide (Vic Malison) to Senator Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester & Senate Deputy Minority Leader) concerning the Million Dollar Sweep. He advised me that Senator Klein is working in conjunction with upstate Senator Aubertine to show the Governor and the Budget Dept. that this was not "excess" funding and to restore our money. In my conversation with Mr. Mallison he was well versed on the issues facing NYSAA and our clubs in regard to this funding. I reminded him of the economic impact (875 Million at last count) that our sport has on NY, particularly in the upstate regions and what could happen to our trail system if we lose this money. He reassured me that Senator Klein understood the needs of our Association and member clubs and that he would continue to support us in the Senate.

This shows that our e-mails, faxes, and phone calls can work. Particularly when we are getting the attention of elected officials from regions that you may not expect it from. We must continue to pressure our elected officials.

So much negativity and not alot of thanks at times! So thanks for what you have and are doing up until this point!!! As well as others who are keeping up with the pressure as well.

Thanks.

Received this from Mike at SnowTrailsTV today: Parks Presentation at the NYSSA Forum. It should give you some information on how this came about. It's broken down into several parts, but stioll very informative.

Gary

If you read my reply i have e-mailed every politician i could think of. I will say that my local state assembly person is the ONLY one who has responded back with something other than an automated response. I have also made several phone calls asking others to e-mail the letter. I said before, most have no clue this even took place. If this took place in March like was reported there was plenty of time to get the ball rolling. I'm not bashing you or even NYSSA, I appreciate all you do, i just think that we cannot sleep on this, you never win with the state of NY . Don't take my attitude as personal, I'm just tired of Volunteering my ass off and having the state of NY shove it to us any chance they get. It seems like it's always the snowmobilers & ATV"s that lose while the Tree huggers & bunny humpers keep winning.

I hear you-it would be nice if clubs also pressed the button-it's easier for the club to contact 500, 1000 or 2000, than it is for NYSSA to roll on 65,000, not including the costs, which while this is important, there has to be money to pay for it too.

Gary

I love the tree huggers and bunny humpers! That's hilarious.

BTW, they got their funds raided too-and they thought they had an in with a left leaning, liberal administration. Nice to see New York steals from everyone equally with no prejudice!

I just got a letter in the mail from my Senator, Bill Larkin, that I sent the letter to. With the letter is a copy of a letter signed my 16 Senators that they sent to Gov. Paterson stating they are against this raid of the snowmobile trail fund. The letter was signed by the following Senators:
Elizabeth Little
John Bonacic
John DeFransico
Joseph Griffo
William Larkin
Carl Marcellino
Thomas Morahan
Michael Nozzolio
Mary Lou Rath
Stephan Saland
Dean Skelos
Caesar Trunzp
George Winner
Catherine Young
George Maziarz
James Alesi

I am not at all into politics, but just remember these names come election time if they are the Senator for you district as at least they appear to be trying to fix this. So Far I have helped friends and family send about 20 of the letters above to the Gov., Senator, and Assemblyman. Does not sound like much but every little bit can not hurt I hope.

Did multiple letters from all members of the "family"
Sent the emails out to all my club members and my safety class students for the past three years.
Made followup phone calls to keep it moving..
What else should the club officers do?

Bruce Swarts, President
Greenwood Lake Snowballer
Greenwood Lake, NY, Orange County
Celebrating our 40th year as a snowmobile club!

Thanks for your efforts-if you can get all your club members to do the same thing, that will help. Can lead a horse to water and all that.....If everyone does what you have done, we should have a million letters to the governement........

DO NOT waste your efforts on Emails!(ONLY)..... INVEST a 1/2 buck on a stamp and a env.!


I KNOW 1st hand that a cart full of letters showing up to a lawmakers mail room is THE most effective manner to gain attention. THEY know that is is an extra effort to do this as opposed to sitting in your underwear and using a mouse.


Sent mine out 2day.

Thanks, Gary.

I've done it as requested. Patience and Persisitence of ours will be paid-off at a later date once the word gets around. We've fought on other issues before. This recent one will get corrected again.

T'care,

AB

Letter from Rep. Steve Hawley of Niagra area
and the petition --> Click to view attachment

^^^I mailed in a bunch of his petitions in today! ^^^

He’s one of the good guys!