It was another jam packed week for Transportation Choices in Olympia. We continue to work for you, asking the legislature to support transit, and it is no easy task. Thanks as always for your support and stay tuned as this long session continues to heat up. Here’s the weekly rundown:
Monday:
Bam. Big day. Sound Transit 3 passed the House Committee. Check out our live tweets and Publicola’s coverage. This was a crucial first step to amp up the pressure to pass ST3 authority this year. The bill, HB 1180, now heads over to the House Finance committee. In the Senate there is no hearing scheduled for it yet, but it continues to remain part of internal state package negotiations. Stay tuned for more as this continues to be our top 2015 priority.
Tuesday:
Sounder service to Olympia? Josh has the scoop on the bi-partisan bill that would make it easier to extend Sound Transit into Thurston County.
Wednesday:
Wednesday we testified at a hearing for House Bill 1393 in the House Transportation Committee. We strongly support this legislation to extend more local options to Community Transit so they can restore lost bus service and meet growing demand. The hearing went very well with riders, board members, and students testifying for the need. Don’t worry, if you missed the hearing, you can catch up over the weekend and watch it here (coverage for HB 1393 starts at 19:34). .
In other big news, Senate Republicans now support using gas tax receipts for transit. Whoo hoo! Here’s what we had to say about that:
“It is uplifting to see the senate Republicans reevaluate the rigidness of the gas tax being restricted to road use,” TCC policy director Andrew Austin said. “Point Roberts [the Whatcom County town that’s being authorized to spend gas taxes on transit] is a unique community, but the need for more flexible local options is not. Let’s extend this new found enlightenment to other areas of the state and give a hearing and pass Sound Transit 3 authority in the senate.”
Thursday:
This is totally unrelated to transportation, but this has to be one of the wildest hearings in Olympia I’ve ever seen. Seriously the last 30 minutes are worth a watch in pure out-there political theater. Enjoy?
Friday:
We reserve Fridays for fun. And for that you don’t need to go a click further than this amazing bus ad coming out of Denmark today. A follow up to their original masterpiece.
There you have it! Transportation Choices: making transit cool again!
