Policy bills must be voted out of a committee in either the Washington House or Senate by Friday in order to stay alive this legislative session.

Washington Bikes is urging people to contact your legislators to ask them to advance the bill to ban turns on red at certain locations across the state. They have created a handy online tool you can use to quickly send messages to the correct legislators.

Bills to end the state’s “jaywalking” law also still need to make it out of a committee.

A number of other bills WA Bikes is pushing have already moved to the next step, as the org outlined in an email blast:

It’s crunch time! Policy bills must be voted out of committee by Friday to stay alive. #WrongOnRed needs your help in order to advance. Contact your legislator and tell them you support this bill NOW! Once you’ve done that, share the action with 5 of your friends! Several safety bills were voted out of committee last week – see our details below.

The safety agenda is moving forward, and it’s thanks to your advocacy!

Highlights for week 6 (Feb 13 – Feb 17):

Opportunities to take action:

• Contact your legislators to show your support for #WrongOnRed. We need your help to show legislators that the people they represent support this proposal to make crosswalks safer for people who bike, walk, and roll.

Highlights from last week:

Thanks to amazing testimony, powerful data, and hard work by legislators and advocates, we saw some key priorities pass through their committees.

• SB 5002 (blood alcohol limit), 5560 (older driver safety), 5583 (young driver safety), 5216 (driver’s license re-examination), and 5471 (e-bike use by people with disabilities) passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee
• HB 1319 (driver’s license re-examination) passed out of the House Transportation Committee

Background information:

• WA Bikes 2023 Legislative Agenda
• 2023 WA Bill Tracker: Stay up to date on the status of bill’s we’re monitoring
• Washington State Legislature general information. Find your legislators and learn more about the process

We’re thrilled to have you with us, and we’re looking forward to making our communities safer for people biking, walking, and rolling around the state.