Legislative Update, Week 9 - The Safety Vests

The Legislature is chugging along, and for bikes so far it's mostly been small details and theater.

Hearing on mandatory reflective clothing bill is underway.. Looks like @JohnDavisforOR is wearing a vest! pic.twitter.com/4sRnqBe4WG

— Jonathan Maus (@BikePortland) March 30, 2015

You may recall that our MPO has limited appetite to support Amtrak, and sure enough funding is at risk. The service doesn't move that many people by raw count, but it looms large as a symbol of alternatives to autoism in the I-5 corridor. Here's the Oregon Environmental Council on the prospect.

There doesn't seem to be any big headline transport news yet, so fair warning mostly blather here...

Milestones and movements are highlighted in green. (As usual, see more relevant bills or movement? Drop a note in the comments.)

Here's an interesting bill that got neutered with study churn, it looks like:

• SB 120 as introduced expanded the definition of ways to meet "mobility standards" and included "reducing congestion in other modes of travel" - which seems ambiguous, but could as the language was adjusted have meant something like "reduce auto congestion by means of improvements in bike lanes and transit (etc)." The relevant language has been deleted in the first round of amendments, and now it looks like it maintains the usual "highway mobility targets established for a highway corridor by the Department of Transportation’s Oregon Highway Plan" and calls for a new study on the possibility of change. As amended the bill is heading to the Senate floor with a "do pass" recommendation.

Specific bike things:

• SB 177 Bike licensing and repeal of Bike Bill (going nowhere)
• SB 551 Bike licensing and repeal of Bike Bill (ditto)
• SB 861 making it possible to use a bike beacon, like an RFID tag, as probable cause for a search warrant in recovering stolen bikes
• SB 533 making it legal for two-wheelers to go on red when you've waited one complete cycle and the light or controller is broken.  (Hearing held, picked up some amendments.)
• HB 3255 Requiring additional reflective clothing at night (Hearing held, no adopted amendments, though BikePortland reports the focus may shift to rear lighting.)

Other Bike-relevant and transportation bills:

• A pod of bills about speed bumps: HB 2283, HB 2293, HB 2730, HB 2736 (these speed bump bills remain nulls, ready for gut-n-stuff action; see below for two that are getting stuffed)
• HB 2256 Cleans up language about PIP in auto insurance (not sure if it's a policy change or just housekeeping on language)
• HB 2552 fees for studded tires (hearing held)
• HB 2553 Creates task force on expanding WES (commuter rail) to Salem
• HB 2620 would require ODOT to inventory ODOT land and determine if it is really needed transportation
• HB 2621 for expanded photo speed enforcement pilot project in Portland (no action after the hearing last month)
• HB 2819 to require drivers over the age of 75 to take annual license exams (no action after the hearing)
• HB 3153 Prohibits State from funding municipal sidewalks 
• HB 3302 on seismic retrofits for bridges 
• SB 511 creates a study on DUI and recidivism (many DUI cases are repeat offenders)

Funding;

• HB 2281, HB 2282 (2281 and 2282 have had a hearing and these speed bump bills look poised for "gut and stuff" action with proposed amendments, 2281 on road usage charges, 2282 on electronic signatures)
• HB 2274 Changes name of "Connect Oregon Fund"; also HB 2275; and HB 2740
• HB 5040 ODOT Biennial Budget (lots of hearings!)
• SJR 16 broadens the list of projects eligible for the gas tax, "for infrastructure that reduces traffic burden of, or pollution from, motor vehicles on public roads." (Hearing held.)

A few land use things of note (all of these have had hearings and look too be live bills and active, at least for the moment):

• SB 565 - Tax credit for rehab of historic properties (moved out of Finance and Revenue Committee and on to Joint Committee on Tax Credits)
• HB 2564 on inclusionary zoning (work session scheduled for this week)
• HB 2633 on improving planning for disasters
• SB 5502 concerning North State Hospital Campus  

Carbon taxes looked like they were going nowhere, but some advocates think there might be hearings this month:

• HJR 10: Imposes taxes on carbon emissions for purpose of funding reductions in carbon emissions and carbon fuel use.
• HB 2082: Imposes tax on each fuel supplier and utility based on amount of carbon in carbon-based fuel that is sold by fuel supplier to consumers in state or that is used to produce carbon-generated electricity supplied by utility to consumers in state.​
• HB 2086: Imposes fee on fossil fuel or fossil fuel-generated electricity to be paid by vendors.
• HB 2159: Imposes tax on each fuel supplier and utility based on amount of carbon in carbon-based fuel that is sold by fuel supplier to consumers in state or that is used to produce carbon-generated electricity supplied by utility to consumers in state.​
• HB 3176: Imposes fee on fossil fuel or fossil fuel-generated electricity to be paid by vendors
• HB 3250: Requires Environmental Quality Commission to adopt carbon cap-and-dividend program.
• HB 3252: Imposes tax on each fuel supplier and utility based on amount of carbon in carbon-based fuel that is sold by fuel supplier to consumers in this state or that is used to produce carbon-generated electricity supplied by utility to consumers in this state.
• HB 3470: Requires Environmental Quality Commission to adopt by rule statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits for years 2020 and 2050 and to adopt interim statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits consistent with 2050 limit every five years.​

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For all notes on the 2015 session, see here.