Legislative Update, Presession Filings

Following the Legislature this year is going to be tough. It's going to get a little lost between national things and city things. Also, looking back on the past few years of the sessions, following them with weekly updates has yielded too much tedious repetition, and just does not seem all that worthwhile now.

At the same time, there is the possibility of a major transportation package and so some attention will be warranted (not to mention other big topics).

Here's a preliminary list of bills that might be interesting. There don't seem to be any bicycle licensing bills this year in the pre-session filings! Nor were there any other bills specifically about bicycling. No carbon tax or cap-and-trade either. In years past I seem to recall more things of interest here.

• SB 38 - Looks like a generic funding bill for ODOT. The current project list in it is old and will almost certainly be replaced. Maybe this will be the "transportation package" eventually.
• SB 426 - Repeals low-carbon fuel standard 
• SB 557 and HB 2135 - New statewide greenhouse gas emissions goals
• SB 5530 - an ODOT budget
• HB 2102 - Looks like it relaxes some of the penalties for DUI convictions
• HB 2288 - Funding for ConnectOregon
• HB 2355 - On collecting data on traffic stops and racial profiling.
• HB 2440 - An attempt to remove HOV lanes on I-5
• HB 2532 - A proposal for a quantitative scoring system for the STIP, including a requirement for "least-cost planning" (this one looks a little interesting)
• HB 2682 - A proposal to make it easier for cities to set speed zones and remove the need for ODOT approval (Portland is driving this and BikePortland has an extensive discussion)

Maybe you will know of others. As the session develops, additional topics and bills may be added.

Postscript

Here's a Legislative advocacy event that is relevant!

To support Safe Routes to Schools funding and programming at the Legislature this year, the entity-formerly-known-as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, now the Street Trust, in coalition as the For Every Kid Coaltion, have been holding a series of Town Halls around the state.

In March, it will be Salem's turn.

Save the Date! Tuesday, March 7th:

• 3/7 - For Every Kid Town Hall @ Salem (4:30-6pm)
• 3/7 - Salem Neighborhood Bikeways Open House (6-7:30pm)

Locations are to be determined, but together this could be a great opportunity to build momentum in Salem and at the Legislature.

(Update - The Town Hall will be in Broadway Commons, 1300 Broadway St NE #100. RSVP here.)

It looks like the Town Hall will also morph afterwards into a meeting on the family-friendly bikeway study for Winter-Maple streets.

As details are settled there will be more to say.

How to Create a Walking School Bus Webinar Slides

Earlier this month the state SR2S folks held a webinar on "Step by Step: How to Start a Walking School Bus Program at Your School." If you're not already hooked into the SR2S network, that might be a useful resource.