November 2015
MSA needs you! The future of your sport needs you! This is an official call to action on behalf of the future of organized snowmobiling in Michigan!
After considerable discussion and calls to our state legislators, we are sad to report that we still can’t find a legislator to introduce our new Trail Permit bill. They are all afraid of raising taxes. Let me stress, our proposal is not, would not, be a tax increase. It is a “pay to play” system, and we already do that. We support our sport, and just want to assess ourselves differently. We have always paid our own way.
Our proposal is to raise the trail permit fee for those riders who are not members of the Michigan Snowmobile Association (MSA). Perhaps a better way to put it is a new discounted trail permit for MSA members. Again, we have not been able to secure a sponsor for our bill.
You Can Make a Difference
If you think you can’t make a difference, you are wrong. When our legislation has been stalled in the past, we have asked you to contact your state legislators, and they have heard your voices. In fact after our last call to action, we were contacted by several legislative offices and asked what they could do to stop the phone calls and letters.
What they can do — is sponsor our trail permit legislation, which has already been written and waiting for a bill sponsor. Wisconsin, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, all passed legislation to offer trail permits to the members of the state association at a discounted price.
Keep in mind that if our funding mechanism isn’t changed, the snowmobile program will suffer. The groomed trails will suffer, and suffer greatly. Who is going to suffer if changes are not made? You, the snowmobiler, is going to suffer.
MSA Members Would Receive Discounts on Trail Permits
Proposed legislation reads:
The fee for a snowmobile trail permit sticker shall be discounted $25 if all of the following apply: The purchaser is a member in good standing of the Michigan Snowmobile Association, a nonprofit corporation, with an individual or family membership. In the case of a family membership, only the purchaser of the membership is considered to be a member for purposes of this subsection. The Membership is an individual or family membership. The sticker is sold by the Michigan Snowmobile Association as the department’s agent under subsection (8). An individual shall not purchase under subsection (2) more than the following number of discounted stickers for the same 1-year period unless the individual owns a number of snowmobiles equal to or greater than the total number of discounted stickers purchased: (A) If the individual has an individual membership in the Michigan Snowmobile Association, 2 stickers. (B) If the individual has a family membership in the Michigan Snowmobile Association, 4 stickers. (4) The Michigan Snowmobile Association may require an individual to submit snowmobile registrations and vehicle identification numbers to verify the number of snowmobiles owned by the individual for the purposes of subsection (3)
Note: Permits will be $60 each; the discounted cost to an MSA member will be $35 if purchased through MSA, a certified Department of Natural Resources (DNR) agent.
The cost of a MSA membership is $25, add that to the cost of a $35 permit and both are equal — $60.
The incentive to be an MSA member is you can buy multiple permits at the discounted rate. MSA members will also get continuous updates on safety, education, new trails or closures throughout the year.
Why We Need This Legislation
The cost of grooming equipment and maintenance continues to rise while funding for the Snowmobile Trail Improvement Program continues to remain the same, even decrease. The cost of fuel has stabilized, but the cost of equipment will continue to increase. Something has to change.
The average cost of a John Deere tractor, fully equipped with Soucy tracks now costs more than $265,000. Last month I explained that we have to dip into next year’s equipment budget to purchase all of the equipment needed this year. We will be able to purchase seven or eight pieces of equipment with this year’s funds and two or three will be purchased out of next year’s budget, which began on Oct. 1
All of that equipment will be on our snowmobile trails for this season. However, if we don’t get this legislation approved, we will be forced to cut down on equipment purchases next year.
Equipment is also aging. Our equipment ranges from 20 years old to new this year. All of that equipment has to be maintained, repaired, and replaced. Cutting the equipment budget will hurt smooth trails in Michigan.
We also have to include expansion and improvements to our trails. Both cost money, money that is not in our snowmobile program budget.
I know that everyone is thinking — if you don’t have it in the budget, you need to cut back a little here and there. We have spent countless hours looking at where cuts can be made. We are at the point where drastic changes are going to have to be made. It is only a matter of time before the amount of miles groomed in Michigan is cut back as well as equipment purchases. Either way, our trails, your trails will suffer.
What You Need to Do
We need all of our members to call, write, and e-mail THEIR Michigan House Representative and Senator. Tell them to support legislation to increase our trail permit fees. Included in this article you will find the name, district, and phone number of every Michigan House and Senate member. Look to the web site information included if you are not sure who your representative or senator is.
We also need you to call members of the Michigan House and Senate leadership and tell them you want to pay more for smooth trails..
House of Representatives
Committee Chairs:
Appropriations: Al Pscholka : (517) 373-1403
Natural Resources: Andrea LaFontaine (517) 373-8931
Tourism & Outdoor Recreation: Bruce Rendon (517) 373-3817
To send U.S. Mail to members of the House, address to:
House of Representatives
P.O .Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514
If you’re not sure who your representative is, visit https://www.michigan.gov/…/house10statewide_371473_7.pdf.
Michigan House of Representative: Name, District, and Phone Numbers
*Denotes have gone snowmobiling with MSA
Banks, Brian (D) 1st District
Phone: (517) 373-0154
Talabi, Alberta Tinsley (D) 2nd District
Phone: (517) 373-1776
Byrd, Wendell L. (D) 3rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0144
Robinson, Rose Mary (D) 4th District
Phone: (517) 373-1008
Durhal III, Fred (D) 5th District
Phone: (517) 373-0844
Chang, Stephanie (D) 6th District
Phone: (517) 373-0823
Garrett, LaTanya (D) 7th District
Phone: (517) 373-2276
Gay-Dagnogo, Sherry (D) 8th District
Phone: (517) 373-3815
Santana, Harvey (D) 9th District
Phone: (517) 373-6990
Love, Leslie (D) 10th District
Phone: (517) 373-0857
Plawecki, Julie (D) 11th District
Phone: (517) 373-0849
Geiss, Erika (D) 12th District
Phone: (517) 373-0852
Liberati, Frank (D) 13th District
Phone: (517) 373-0845
Clemente, Paul (D) 14th District
Phone: (517) 373-0140
Darany, George (D) 15th District
Phone: (517) 373-0847
Kosowski, Robert (D) 16th District
Phone: (517) 373-2576
LaVoy, Bill (D) 17th District
Phone: (517) 373-1530
Roberts, Sarah (D) 18th District
Phone: (517) 373-1180
Cox, Laura (R) 19th District
Phone: (517) 373-3920
Heise, Kurt (R) 20th District
Phone: (517) 373-3816
Pagan, Kristy (D) 21st District
Phone: (517) 373-2575
Chirkun, John (D) 22nd District
Phone: (517) 373-0854
Somerville, Pat (R) 23rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0855
*Forlini, Anthony (R) 24th District
Phone: (517) 373-0113
Yanez, Henry (D) 25th District
Phone: (517) 373-2275
Townsend, Jim (D) 26th District
Phone: (517) 373-3818
Wittenberg, Robert (D) 27th District
Phone: (517) 373-0478
Miller, Derek E. (D) 28th District
Phone: (517) 373-1772
Greimel, Tim (D) 29th District
Phone: (517) 373-0475
Farrington, Jeff (R) 30th District
Phone: (517) 373-7768
Lane, Marilyn (D) 31st District
Phone: (517) 373-0159
*LaFontaine, Andrea (R) 32nd District
Phone: (517) 373-8931
*Goike, Ken (R) 33rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0820
Neeley, Sheldon A. (D) 34th District
Phone: (517) 373-8808
Moss, Jeremy (D) 35th District
Phone: (517) 373-1788
Lucido, Peter J. (R) 36th District
Phone: (517) 373-0843
Greig, Christine (D) 37th District
Phone: (517) 373-1793
Crawford, Kathy (R) 38th District
Phone: (517) 373-0827
Kesto, Klint (R) 39th District
Phone: (517) 373-1799
McCready, Mike (R) 40th District
Phone: (517) 373-8670
Howrylak, Martin (R) 41st District
Phone: (517) 373-1783
Theis, Lana (R) 42nd District
Phone: (517) 373-1784
Tedder, Jim (R) 43rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0615
Runestad, Jim (R) 44th District
Phone: (517) 373-2616
Webber, Michael (R) 45th District
Phone: (517) 373-1773
Jacobsen, Bradford (R) 46th District
Phone: (517) 373-1798
Vaupel, Hank (R) 47th District
Phone: (517) 373-8835
Faris, Pam (D) 48th District
Phone: (517) 373-7557
Phelps, Phil (D) 49th District
Phone: (517) 373-7515
Smiley, Charles (D) 50th District
Phone: (517) 373-3906
Graves, Joseph (R) 51st District
Phone: (517) 373-1780
Driskell, Gretchen (D) 52nd District
Phone: (517) 373-0828
Irwin, Jeff (D) 53rd Disrict
Phone: (517) 373-2577
Rutledge, David (D) 54th District
Phone: (517) 373-1771
Zemke, Adam (D) 55th District
Phone: (517) 373-1792
Sheppard, Jason M. (R) 56th District
Phone: (517) 373-2617
Jenkins, Nancy (R) 57th District
Phone: (517) 373-1706
Leutheuser, Eric (R) 58th District
Phone: (517) 373-1794
Miller, Aaron (R) 59th District
Phone: (517) 373-0832
Hoadley, Jon (D) 60th District
Phone: (517) 373-1785
Iden, Brandt (R) 61st District
Phone: (517) 373-1774
Bizon, John (R) 62nd District
Phone: (517) 373-0555
Maturen, David C. (R) 63rd District
Phone: (517) 373-1787
Poleski, Earl (R) 64th District
Phone: (517) 373-1795
Roberts, Brett (R) 65th District
Phone: (517) 373-1775
*Nesbitt, Aric (R) 66th District
Phone: (517) 373-0839
Cochran, Tom (D) 67th District
Phone: (517) 373-0587
Schor, Andy (D) 68th District
Phone: (517) 373-0826
Singh, Sam (D) 69th District
Phone: (517) 373-1786
*Outman, Rick (R) 70th District
Phone: (517) 373-0834
Barrett, Tom (R) 71st District
Phone: (517) 373-0853
*Yonker, Ken (R) 72nd District
Phone: (517) 373-0840
Afendoulis, Chris (R) 73rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0218
VerHeulen, Rob (R) 74th District
Phone: (517) 373-8900
Brinks, Winnie (D) 76th District
Phone: (517) 373-0822
Hooker, Tom (R) 77th District
Phone: (517) 373-2277
Pagel, Dave (R) 78th District
Phone: (517) 373-1796
Pscholka, Al (R) 79th District
Phone: (517) 373-1403
Lauwers, Dan (R) 81st District
Phone: (517) 373-1790
Muxlow, Paul (R) 83rd District
Phone: (517) 373-0835
Canfield, Edward (R) 84th District
Phone: (517) 373-0476
*Glardon, Ben (R) 85th District
Phone: (517) 373-0841
*Lyons, Lisa Posthumus (R) 86th District
Phone: (517) 373-0846
Callton, Mike (R) 87th District
Phone: (517) 373-0842
*Victory, Roger (R) 88th District
Phone: (517) 373-1830
Price, Amanda (R) 89th District
Phone: (517) 373-0838
Garcia, Daniela (R) 90th District
Phone: (517) 373-0830
*Hughes, Holly (R) 91st District
Phone: (517) 373-3437
Hovey-Wright, Marcia (D) 92nd District
Phone: (517) 373-2646
*Leonard, Tom (R) 93rd District
Phone: (517) 373-1778
*Kelly, Tim (R) 94th District
Phone: (517) 373-0837
Guerra, Vanessa (D) 95th District
Phone: (517) 373-0152
Brunner, Charles (D) 96th District
Phone: (517) 373-0158
Johnson, Joel (R) 97th District
Phone: (517) 373-8962
Glenn, Gary (R) 98th District
Phone: (517) 373-1791
*Cotter, Kevin (R) 99th District
Phone: (517) 373-1789
*Bumstead, Jon (R) 100th District
Phone: (517) 373-7317
Franz, Ray (R) 101st District
Phone: (517) 373-0825
*Potvin, Phil (R) 102nd District
Phone: (517) 373-1747
*Rendon, Bruce (R) 103rd District
Phone: (517) 373-3817
Inman, Larry C. (R) 104th District
Phone: (517) 373-1766
Cole, Triston (R) 105th District
Phone: (517) 373-0829
*Pettalia, Peter (R) 106th District
Phone: (517) 373-0833
*Chatfield, Lee (R) 107th District
Phone: (517) 373-2629
McBroom, Ed (R)108th District
Phone: (517) 373-0156
Kivela, John (D) 109th District
Phone: (517) 373-0498
Dianda, Scott (D) 110th District
Phone: (517) 373-0850
To e-mail your House of Representative, visit
http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/frmRepList.aspx and click on your representative.
State Senators
Senate Committee Chairs:
Appropriations: Dave Hildenbrand (517) 373-1801
Natural Resources: Tom Casperson (517) 373-7840
Outdoor Recreation & Tourism: Goeff Hansen (517) 373-1635
To send U.S. Mail to members of the Senate, address to:
Michigan Senate
PO Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
If you’re not sure who your senator is, visit http://www.senate.michigan.gov/2011_maps/Statewide.pdf.
Michigan Senate: Name, District, and Phone Numbers
*Denotes have gone snowmobiling with MSA
Ananich, Jim (D) District 27
Phone: (517) 373-0142
Bieda, Steven (D) District 9
Phone: (517) 373-8360
Booher, Darwin L. (R) District 35 Phone: (517) 373-1725
Brandenburg, Jack (R) District 8 Phone: (517) 373-7670
*Casperson, Tom (R) District 38
Phone: (517) 373-7840
Colbeck, Patrick (R) District 7
Phone: (517) 373-7350
Emmons, Judy K. (R) District 33
Phone: (517) 373-3760
*Green, Mike (R) District 31 Phone: (517) 373-1777
Gregory, Vincent (D) District 11 Phone: (517) 373-7888
Hansen, Goeff (R) District 34 Phone: (517) 373-1635
Hertel Jr., Curtis (D) District 23
Phone: (517) 373-1734
*Hildenbrand, Dave (R) District 29 Phone: (517) 373-1801
Hood III, Morris W. (D) District 3 Phone: (517) 373-0990
Hopgood, Hoon-Yung (D) District 6 Phone: (517) 373-7800
*Horn, Ken (R) District 32 Phone: (517) 373-1760
Hune, Joe (R) District 22
Phone: (517) 373-2420
Johnson, Bert (D) District 2 Phone: (517) 373-7748
Jones, Rick (R) District 24 Phone: (517) 373-3447
Knezek, David (D) District 5 Phone: (517) 373-0994
*Knollenberg, Marty (R) District 13
Phone: (517) 373-2523
*Kowall, Mike (R) District 15
Phone: (517) 373-1758
MacGregor, Peter (R) District 28 Phone: (517) 373-0797
Marleau, Jim (R) District 12 Phone: (517) 373-2417
*Meekhof, Arlan B. (R) District 30 Phone: (517) 373-6920
*Nofs, Mike (R) District 19
Phone: (517) 373-2426
O’Brien, Margaret (R) District 20
Phone: (517) 373-5100
*Pavlov, Phil (R) District 25
Phone: (517) 373-7708
Proos, John (R) District 21
Phone: (517) 373-6960
Robertson, David B (R) District 14
Phone: (517) 373-1636
Rocca, Tory (R) District 10
Phone: (517) 373-7315
*Schmidt, Wayne A. (R) District 37
Phone: (517) 373-2413
