After Expert Testimony, House Committee Unanimously Votes to Release Bill to Make Cycling the Official State Sport of Delaware
Expert witnesses testifying yesterday in Dover in favor of legislation to make cycling the Official State Sport of Delaware
DOVER – January 30
Expert witnesses from Wilbur Elementary School in Bear testified yesterday afternoon to the Administration Committee of the Delaware House of Representatives in favor of House Bill 235 – a bill to make cycling the Official State Sport of Delaware.
After hearing the testimony of the experts from the Wilbur School, the committee unanimously voted to release the bill to be be voted on by the full House of Representatives.
All of the expert witnesses attend 4th grade at the Wilbur School.
The prime sponsors of House Bill 235 are Representative Valerie Longhurst, Senator Nicole Poore and Senator David Sokola. Additional sponsors are Reps. Gerald Brady and Debra Heffernan; and Sens. Brian Bushweller, Catherine Cloutier and Margaret Henry.
In their testimony, the witnesses told the committee that there were many benefits of cycling:
“It is more efficient than a car.”
“It will help people lose weight.”
“Riding a bike makes your muscles, heart and lungs stronger.”
“You can be active instead of just sitting around doing nothing.”
“You don’t use any gas.”
“It can be done year round…you can layer up and be good to go.”
“Riding bikes instead of driving makes the state cleaner.”
Most importantly, as one witness noted, riding a bike is “awesome.”
RELATED:
• Littlest lawmakers push cycling bill (News Journal)
• Longhurst and Colleagues Fought for Trail Network Funding
• An Open Letter from State Senator David P. Sokola
• Representative Valerie Longhurst (facebook)
• Senator Nicole Poore (facebook)
One Response
I would like to ask if any of these charming young “expert witnesses” are currently able to ride their bicycles from their homes to their neighborhood school? Perhaps instead of encouraging cycling as a state sport, we should focus our efforts upon re-working our existing car centric infrastructure to better accommodate bicycling, so that these young people will be raised in a culture where cycling on a daily basis, as part of their daily lives, will be possible. In my opinion, promoting cycling as a state sport will not accomplish that. While cycling is indeed a sport, it is also, and perhaps most importantly, a means of sustainable transportation that gets us from point A to point B. We need to support the efforts that will bring us to that goal.