There is less than one week left before the legislative session cutoff on Sunday, April 28. If the 2019-2021 biennium budget isn’t adopted by April 28, there will be a special session that can last up to 30 days.
What happened last week:
Block the box bill landed in the Senate Transportation Committee. After the House passed HB 1793 last week, we wanted the bill to go directly to the Senate floor for a final vote since it had already received a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee. Instead, the bill was sent to the Senate Transportation Committee with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday the 24th. We are working with legislators and partners to get this bill passed before they adjourn.
Transportation budget conversations continue between the House and Senate. Now that both chambers have passed budgets, members from the Senate and House are negotiating between the two proposals to arrive at an agreement. We are happy to see that our low-income toll proviso was included in the House budget and we will continue to work to increase investments multimodal projects.
The Healthy Environment for All Act passed the House floor last week. It now needs a vote on the Senate floor to pass. This bill will require state agencies to use environmental health disparity data to make decisions about investments and policy development. This builds on our goals to create healthy and just communities and we appreciate the leadership of Front and Centered on this bill!
SB 5710, the bill that establishes an active transportation safety advisory council, was signed into law by Governor Inslee last week. We are happy to continue supporting the continued work by the bicycle and pedestrian safety councils through this combined active transportation safety advisory council. We appreciate the leadership of Washington Bikes on this bill!
HB 1584, the bill that requires regional transportation planning organizations that receive state funds to provide opportunity for federally recognized tribes to vote as members, passed out of the Senate last week and is on the governor’s desk ready to be signed.
SB 5695, the bill that increases fines for high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) violations, passed out of the House Transportation Committee and was referred to House Rules Committee.
What’s happening this week:
With only one week left, we are focusing our work on passing HB 1793, the block the box bill, and adopting a complete transportation budget that increases multimodal investments before the end of session.
For a snapshot at all the legislation we’re tracking, check out our 2019 Bill Tracker.
