We have a bill in the WA state House and Senate!

Solutionary Rail, as part of the Rail Can't Wait Campaign, is thrilled to support House Bill 1837 and its companion bill in the Senate, SB 5667, Establishing intercity passenger rail improvement priorities.  The bill which will implement long-awaited improvements to Amtrak Cascades intercity passenger rail service.

Thank you to Rep. Reed and others for their leadership!

Take Action Update for Week of March 5, 2025:

HB 1837 has passed out of the House Transportation Committee and is now in the House Rules Committee.  We need to apply pressure to move it out of Rules and onto the House Floor for a vote.

The most urgently needed action this week is for constituents with a legislator on the House Rules Committee to write to their Rep and ask that they "Help pull HB 1837 from House Rules to the floor calendar.”

Thank you to our RCW allies in the Climate Rail Alliance who offered this messaging to House Rules Committee members:

After asking that they pull the Bill from Rules to the House Floor, add a couple of good reasons that are important to you, such as:

*I value making excellent improvements to our passenger train service because it would be so much better if it was on time, faster, and more frequent. My family travels to xyx and cutting off an hour of that travel time would be wonderful.

*My kids would like to meet their grandparents on time and not late. This bill sets a goal for on-time reliability.

*Our region expects 3-4 million more people by 2050, and we need our rail alternative to help take the pressure off our highways.

“For the 25% of Washingtonians who don’t drive, this is an important bill for mobility justice.

*This bill is very popular - with over 1000 people signing in Pro in the House Transportation committee and 1200 in the Senate Transportation committee.

*The bill carries no fiscal note - it reaffirms goals set by the legislature in the past for great service which we badly need. We can fund projects in phases over time.

*This policy bill establishes improvement goals for the Amtrak Cascades passenger train service which will help our state in the coming years as we expect millions more people.

*More people choosing the train will help decongest our highways.

*This bill will help us meet our goals for reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. 

*HB 1837 will be good for local economies along the corridor and for the whole state.

Conclude with: Thank you for considering my request to pull HB 1837 to the floor calendar.

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Where We're At Today

The House Transportation Committee held a hearing mid-February. Over 1,000 people registered their support for the bill, and a strong cohort testified in favor of it before the committee. 

A Senate Hearing was held the following week and over 1,200 people registered their PRO Support.

The House version of the Bill was passed out of Committee with a Do Pass Recommendation at the end of February. It now sits in the Rules Committee, where it needs to move out of and onto the House Floor for a vote.

Communicate with Legislators

In addition to writing to Legislators on the Rules Commitee, here are two other ways to Take Action:

1. Is your Senator a member of the Senate Transportation Committee? It is urgent that we communicate with them and ask them to vote SB 5667 out of the Transportation Committee and move to a floor vote.

Senators on Transportation Committee:

(* indicates bill sponsor; in your message to them, please thank them for their sponsorship)

Liias-21, Lovick-44, Ramos-5, King-14, Goehner-12, Alvarado-34, Chapman*-24, Christian-4, Cortes-18, Fortunato-31, Harris-17, Holy-6, Krishnadasan-26, Lovelett*-40, MacEwen-35, Nobles*-28, Shewmake*-42, Valdez*-46, Wilson-19.

2. Let your Legislators know your SUPPORT position on the bill:

• SB5667 form to communicate with your Senator
• HB1837 form to communicate with your Representatives

Sample Talking Points  Do what you can to make it your own words if possible.

Please let us know below what actions you've taken and any response received from Legislators.

Learn More

Check out the Rail Can't Wait Campaign's video explaining the vision and background for the bill, comparing current and planned Amtrak Cascades service levels with those that the bill would require, and identifying some of the infrastructure improvements that could help Cascades service meet the criteria established by the bill. 

Read our Q+A on the bill HERE.

Read the Press Release HERE; share it with your local media contacts.