Last Friday was a major milestone at the legislature. To keep bills active, they needed to have passed out of fiscal (i.e. Transportation, Appropriations, or Ways and Means) committees. Thanks to your continued advocacy, all but one of our priority bills (Road Usage Charge) made it through cutoff:
- Ending jaywalking enforcement
- Traffic Safety for All
- Transit-Oriented Development
- Missing middle housing
- Climate planning through the GMA
What’s coming up
Bills will need to be pulled from the Rules Committee to the floors of their respective chambers for amendments and a full vote. The last day to pass bills out of the chamber they originated in is March 8th. We need immediate action on two bills specifically to keep them going past the next cutoff:
SB 5383 – Concerning pedestrians crossing and moving along roadways
Our Free to Walk WA Bill has made it out of the Senate Transportation Committee onto Rules. The amended version keeps core elements that would eliminate law enforcement interactions. We are hoping for a floor vote soon.SB 5466 – Promoting transit-oriented development (TOD)
One of this bill’s critical components for enabling TOD is lifting minimum parking mandates because required parking drives up housing costs and discourages transit use. This provision is getting significant opposition.What’s happened
HB 1832 – [Road Usage Charge] Implementing a per mile charge on vehicle usage of public roadways
This bill did not make it out of House Transportation by cutoff. You can watch as it was introduced and heard here. TCC testified Other on this bill.
A Road Usage Charge, or RUC, is an innovative way to generate transportation revenue that charges people by the number of miles they drive rather than gallons of gas used. However, we have concerns over key policy points including the lack of flexible use of funds and a low-income program. We expect to have this debate again next year where we’ll continue to fight for climate and equity goals that support the transportation system we envision.HB 1513 – Improving traffic safety
This bill passed out of House Transportation last week, and is now in the Rules Committee. Our partners at ACLU-WA continue to lead on this Traffic Safety for All bill and have a great blog post that goes into policy details.SB 5466 – Promoting Transit-Oriented Development
This bill was also moved to Rules out of the Senate Transportation Committee in Executive Session with a Do Pass recommendation, which you can watch here.To learn more about the campaign to repeal jaywalking laws in Washington State, visit Free to Walk Washington. Ride on!
