Bus stop on Beacon Hill Seattle, by SDOT, used with a creative commons license.

What happened last week:

Last week, legislators considered bills that made it to their chamber.

On Tuesday, TCC testified in support of HB 1110, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard bill. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy, and Technology with amendment last week and was referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

TCC also testified in support of HB 5710, the bill establishing the active transportation safety advisory council, which passed out of the House Transportation Committee on Thursday. We are still following Washington Bikes’ lead on this bill.

HB 1360, the bill concerning abstracts of driving records, was heard in the Senate Transportation Committee. This bill expands the permission to release driver abstracts to transit authorities to include existing volunteer vanpool drivers. No action has been taken.

What’s happening this week:

This week, we are turning our attention to HB 1160, the 2019-2021 biennium transportation budget proposal, which was released earlier today. We are monitoring and advocating to grow investments in transportation, walking, and biking, and helping find new flexible revenue sources. We are reading through the budget and will keep you updated on our analysis soon.

We are pleased to see that our low-income toll study proviso is in the transportation budget proposal. TCC worked hard to include the study in the budget to better understand the financial and other impacts of tolling, and barriers to the benefits of tolling.This study will help ensure that a statewide tolling program is equitable and addresses barriers that low-income people may face while using the system. You can find out more about the study here.

Although we did not see our budget proviso for an autonomous vehicle health impact assessment study, we will continue advocating for this piece in the budget so the state can better understand the health, safety, and equity impacts of autonomous vehicle adoption.

TCC will be testifying at the public hearing on the transportation appropriations for the budget today at 3:30 pm. You can tune in here to watch.

HB 5723, the bill that increases safety on roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable roadway users, is expected to be heard in the House Transportation Committee the week of April 1.

 

For a snapshot at all the legislation we’re tracking, check out our 2019 Bill Tracker.

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