Olympia Capital Building, photo by Kelsey Mesher.

What happened last week:

We’re working hard to bring the Block the Box legislation back. After HB 1793 didn’t make it out of its house of origin, we worked hard this week to pass the legislation through a budget proviso supported by Senator Nguyen and Senate Saldana. Unfortunately, there were not enough votes to keep the proviso alive. This week, we are exploring other ways to bring back this critical piece of legislation that keeps streets safe and people moving. Thanks to everyone who have helped move the block the box legislation forward!

The transportation budgets are moving. The Senate transportation budget moved out of committee and into rules committee. The House transportation budget passed out of the House last Friday with amendments. The House has added our low-income toll study proviso into the budget and included extra funding for special needs transportation programming. The Senate has included funding to plan for the future of the I-5 corridor, which we view as an important step for implementing future rapid bus service.

What’s happening this week:

This week, we are continuing to move bills out of their opposite chambers and monitoring the transportation budget proposals in both the House and Senate.

HB 1110, the clean fuel standard bill, is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate transportation committee this Thursday. This bill is a priority for our climate partners and we are supporting their lead. TCC will testify in support of HB 1110 this week.

The vulnerable users bill SB 5723 will increase safety on roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other roadway users. SB 5723 is scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Transportation on Wednesday. TCC will testify and support its passing out of the House this week.

Along with our partners, we successfully ensured that HB 2042, the green transportation bill, will not use funding from the multimodal account. The electric vehicle incentive will also use the sales price, not the base price of a vehicle, which will make incentives more available to low- and middle-income buyers than wealthy buyers. The bill is up for a hearing this Friday.

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

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