OHV Issues: Assemblyman Jones works to save the Fund

Back in February, I wrote an email to Assemblyman Brian Jones of the 77th Assembly District, a member of the Budget Subcommittee. It read as follows:

We in the Off Road Community do not deserve to be cheated out of our trust fund monies that we bring to the State. I am sorry some parks my close due to budget restraints, that is too bad, but using the money that is supposed to support OHV activity to deny ohv activity is a criminal misuse of taxpayer funds.

We deserve better from our representatives in government and deserve a fair deal with the permit money we generate through the Green Sticker Program.

Please treat those green sticker monies like a lock box… only to be used to the betterment of the off road community. We do not deserve to be abused with our own money.

Much to my surprise Mr. Jones sent back a response the other day. It was your standard form letter with all the trappings of a constituent hand job. But hey it had a couple of interesting facts and I posted it yesterday titled, It’s $48 Million from the Green Sticker Fund.

This evening at 4:22 PM Assemblyman Jones sent a clarification to the previous email sent. In which he said the following:

I apologize for any confusion caused by my last email.

Let me be blunt.  The OHV fund is the only is the only state program that is self-funded. It is the model for the way government program should be run.  I do not support your funds being raided or re-allocated in anyway.  I strongly believe that 100% of the OHV fees you pay should go directly to the OHV fund to be used for OHV purposes only.  The OHV fund should not be treated as a slush fund for cash hungry politicians to re-allocate to their own special interest projects.

Although it’s not the ultimate result we are seeking, I’m pleased to report that the amount of money the legislature is seeking to allocate has been reduced from $27 million to $10 million. Please be assured that I’m committed to continuing to fight so that the amount being stolen is not just reduced, but eliminated.  Since the state has a history of not repaying funds that have been seized, a method of repayment is crucial to the process as well.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, I would encourage you to write or call my District or Capitol office (listed below).

Again, I apologize for any confusion my prior message created.

Sincerely,

Brian Jones

Assemblyman, 77th District

It is refreshing to find an honest man up there in Sacramento that would take the time out of his busy day and make sure that we in the Off Road Community are not mis-informed and that his stance of the issue is made crystal clear to us all.

It appears that we have a friend in Sacramento that will go to bat for us during this budget crisis. Mr. Jones notes that the OHV Program is the only self-funded state program in existence yet is the first program that is raided at budget time. He and his co-hearts have been able to reduce the effects of the government raid to $10 Million down from the eye popping and fund depleting $27 Million.

I personally would like to thank Assemblyman Jones for his tireless support for the Off Road Community.

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