Next Week in Olympia- Week 8

Cut off has come and gone in policy and fiscal committees. Next week will be dominated by floor action in the House and Senate. Legislators have till March 7th to act on a bill and move it out of the house of origin, or it will die.

Many of the bills on TCC’s agenda need to see floor action to move forward during this session. The House must act on the following bills that TCC supports:

SHB 1071 Complete streets grant program Moeller
SHB 1700 Safe and Flexible Street design Fitzgibbon
HB 1536 Congestion reduction charge Liias
HB 1382 Express toll lanes on 405 Clibborn
HB 1967 Public transportation systems Fitzgibbon

The Senate must act on the following bills that TCC supports:

SB 5457 Congestion reduction charge White
SSB 5730 Mileage-based auto insurance Rockefeller

There has been major wins already this session. The “Vulnerable Users” bill, championed by Cascade Bicycle club, passed out of the Senate, and is on its way to the House for committee action. It is great to have this bill out of the Senate, with strong momentum.

One of the TCC’s defensive priorities this session was to stop the Association of Washington Business’s (AWB) top climate priority; to repeal Washington’s vehicle miles traveled (VMT) law. This bill died in the policy committee and will not move forward. Next we will ensure they do not attempt to pass it through in the budget.