Dear friends,
Last week, bills had to make it through an important hurdle — the House of Origin Cutoff. Bills that originated in the Senate had to be passed out of the Senate, and bills that originated in the House had to be passed out of the House, in order to stay alive this session. The only exceptions are bills that have a fiscal impact, which can be considered “necessary to implement the budget” and brought back later in the session.
Of the bills we’re tracking, most are still alive, but a couple of them did not make it out of their houses of origin:
- SB 5067, which would have lowered the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for impaired driving from 0.08 to 0.05 didn’t make it out of the Senate.
- HB 1043 to extend the commute trip reduction tax credit and help more businesses participate didn’t make it out of the House — but it’s possible that this bill could come back as “necessary to implement the budget.”
The next big deadline for bills is the Opposite House Policy Cutoff on April 2nd, when they must have also passed through the other chamber.
Several of the bills we’re supporting had hearings last week, including HB 1491 to promote more transit-oriented development. It is scheduled for an executive session in the Senate Housing Committee on Wednesday and then will go to the House Ways and Means Committee. This bill is crucial as investments in transit come online across the state. We need to ensure that everyone has access to our transit systems by increasing housing opportunities and affordable housing near stations and transit lines.
We’re still anticipating that transportation budgets will be released next week on Monday, March 24th, and we expect to see two versions of the budget — one with cuts, and one showing what’s possible with new revenue added.
We want to see budgets that:
- Maintain or grow funding for transit, walking, and biking investments, as well as preservation and maintenance work.
- Make cuts by pausing and re-evaluating freeway expansion projects that are mainly responsible for the ballooning budget deficit.
- Fund roadway projects with revenue that’s restricted to funding roads, and use more flexible revenue sources to fund walking, biking, and transit.
- Only implement new or increased taxes and fees that further our state’s climate and equity goals.
You can read more about the different options that legislators are weighing in this excellent piece from Ryan Packer at The Urbanist. Stay tuned for budget updates next week and check out our Bill Tracker to see the status of all the bills we’re tracking.
Ride on!
– Transportation Choices
What's Coming Up This Week
A bill to add two voting members that are transit users to the governing body of public transportation benefit areas (HB 1418) will have a public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday, March 20th at 4 PM. This bill would allow transit agency boards to voluntarily add riders as voting members.
What Happened Last Week
A bill promoting transit-oriented development (HB 1491) had a hearing in the Senate Housing Committee. This bill would require cities to allow more density near light rail and bus rapid transit stops.
A bill concerning minimum parking requirements (SB 5184) had a hearing in the House Committee on Local Government. This bill would limit parking minimums as a requirement for development. Read more about it from our friends at The Urbanist.
A bill concerning job postings requiring driver’s licenses (SB 5501) had a hearing in the House Committee on Labor and Workforce Standards. This bill would help ensure nondrivers are not unfairly barred from job opportunities.
A bill establishing shared streets (SB 5595) had a hearing in the House Transportation Committee. This bill would legalize a type of street where cars are allowed, but pedestrians are the priority, and the speed limit is 10 mph.
