House bills: No helmets, no skateboards, new tolls

It’s crossover week! Time to throw a bunch of transportation bills against the wall, and see what sticks.

If we can’t get these bills passed through the House this week, it’ll be too late to have them considered by the Senate this year. It's now or never. [1pm update: See notes on committee actions below.]

So the House Transportation Committtee today at 9 a.m. (1228 Legislative Building) will consider whether to stomp the gas or the brakes for a motley mix of large and small, likely and unlikely transportation bills:

HB 1359: Ban skateboards from public highways  [1pm update: Withdrawn.]

HB 881: Start shifting 4,700 miles of state-owned streets inside city limits to city responsibility [1pm update: Bill passed, but after sponsor removed this provision and another that were opposed by cities.]

HB 1245: Start planning to collect tolls from drivers on all interstate highways – at our state borders  [1pm update: Approved as a study item.]

HB 1578: Spend some of our Highway Trust Fund construction money on projects that relieve the worst urban congestion  [1pm update: Defeated]

HB 286: Start calling the Highway Fund the Highway Maintenance Fund, and start calling the Highway Trust Fund the Highway Special Projects Fund  [1pm update: Reduced in scope and changed to a study proposal.]

HB 832: Reinstate a goal to have 10 percent of DOT contracts awarded to minority contractors, and 5 percent to women contractors  [1pm update: Withdrawn.]

HB 839: Allow motorcycle riders to quit wearing safety helmets when they turn 21 [1pm update: See separate blog post on this bill.]

HB 1617: Make the independent Turnpike Authority a part of DOT, and combine their boards [1pm update: approved]