VA bicycling bills under consideration now

[Judd]

The Bicyclist Safety Act has made it out of Senate Committee. It needs your immediate help to get passed by the full Senate this week and also to get it passed through the House committee.

Take 1.5 minutes to send an email to your state delegate and senator here: https://t.co/WCarshJgo0

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[Boomer Cycles]

Just sent emails to my Senator & Delegate via the website, which was super easy. All I had to do was fill in my name, address and email. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

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[peterw_diy]

Thanks for posting.

I think I might be more excited about the notion of riding two abreast than the long awaited Idaho Stop. Sure would be nice for errands with kids if we didn’t have to go single file!

[Judd]

@peterw_diy 206319 wrote:

Thanks for posting.

I think I might be more excited about the notion of riding two abreast than the long awaited Idaho Stop. Sure would be nice for errands with kids if we didn’t have to go single file!

One of the arguments made by the Virginia Bicycling Federation was it legalizes parents protecting their kids by riding side by side.

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[Judd]

If you haven’t sent a note to your Senator or Delegate yet, it’s still needed. The Senate bill will likely be voted on by the full Senate on Wednesday. The House version of the bill made it out of subcomittee by an 8-2 vote and goes to the full Transportation committee this week. If it makes it through the Transportation Committee and will go to the full House for a vote.

Latest updates are here: http://www.vabike.org

[arlcxrider]

SB1263: “Idaho Stop,” riding two abreast, etc. was defeated yesterday in the state Senate. Vote 16 Y, 22 N. (One not voting, one vacancy.)

Janet Howell (D-Fairfax/Arlington) and Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) were among the “no” votes.

[elbows]

@arlcxrider 206486 wrote:

SB1263: “Idaho Stop,” riding two abreast, etc. was defeated yesterday in the state Senate. Vote 16 Y, 22 N. (One not voting, one vacancy.)

Janet Howell (D-Fairfax/Arlington) and Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) were among the “no” votes.

Howell’s district:
https://www.vpap.org/offices/state-senate-32/redistricting/

Saslaw’s district:
https://www.vpap.org/offices/state-senate-35/district-map/

[Relwal Noj]

Howell and Saslaw will represent different districts in the 2023 senate elections. I imagine with the new redistricting bill, virtually all of Arlington County will be put into a single district – which will be represented by either Favola or Ebbin.

Sadly, this means this bill is permanently dead because there’s very little chance the dems retain the house of delegates after the elections this Nov and they deserve to lose it after passing that flawed redistricting amendment.

[chris_s]

Twitter tells me that the House version of the Bicyclist Safety Act has passed. This gives us a 2nd shot at Senate passage. Here’s how the vote went down last time:

YEAS–Barker, Bell, Boysko, DeSteph, Ebbin, Favola, Hashmi, Lewis, Marsden, Mason, McClellan, McPike, Morrissey, Petersen, Spruill, Surovell–16.

NAYS–Chase, Cosgrove, Deeds, Dunnavant, Edwards, Hanger, Howell, Kiggans, Locke, Lucas, McDougle, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Peake, Pillion, Reeves, Ruff, Saslaw, Stuart, Suetterlein, Vogel–22.

RULE 36–0.

NOT VOTING–Stanley–1.

If your state senator is Howell or Saslaw, we REALLY need you to reach out to them and try to change their vote. Hopefully our friends in other areas of the state will do their part as well and we can get this to 20 YEAS.

Here’s a good FAQ from the VA Bike Federation

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[arlcxrider]

You still need 20 votes to pass the bill. There are 39 members of the Senate currently. Good luck getting four members to admit they blew it and change their votes.

[arlcxrider]

Today is “crossover day,” when each house of the General Assembly takes up bills passed in the other house.

HB 2262, the companion to the bill that failed in the Senate, was referred to the Senate Transportation Committee, effectively killing it and dozens of other house bills.

[dbehrend]

The Washington Post posted an article about the VA legislation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/virginia-bicyclist-stop/2021/02/12/5b4adf86-6ca9-11eb-ba56-d7e2c8defa31_story.html

[Judd]

The House version of the bill has passed out of the Senate Transportation committee. It will have a second reading on Monday and a final reading, debate and vote on Tuesday. It is still very helpful to contact your senator and them to support especially if your senator is Saslaw who still looks to be a no vote.

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[arlcxrider]

The Senate passed a substitute bill yesterday, approving riding two abreast and “change lanes to pass.”

Unfortunately the Idaho stop was stripped out, and replaced with a lame provision to convene a “study group.”

[Hancockbs]

@arlcxrider 208134 wrote:

The Senate passed a substitute bill yesterday, approving riding two abreast and “change lanes to pass.”

Unfortunately the Idaho stop was stripped out, and replaced with a lame provision to convene a “study group.”

I’ll take small progress over no progress.

[Author]

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