First the bad news – the Michigan Senate failed to act on the rail bonding bill.
With just three days on the schedule and hundreds of issues pressing for their attention, the Michigan Senate did not vote on HB 6484. That means it dies, along with every other incomplete bill this year.
One of the big barriers was the lack of a real champion in the Senate. Many legislators of both parties supported the bill, but we didn’t have anyone actively fighting to make it happen.
But this big cloud has several silver linings.
Rep. Wayne Schmidt has committed to reintroducing the bill when the new legislature begins in January. We will have a lot of new legislators to educate about transit and rail and their benefits for Michigan, but we can try again. The funding from the US DOT will be available for several more months.
Senator Randy Richardville will be Majority Leader next year, so will decide if this gets on the schedule next year. Call him at 517-373-3543 and urge him to make it a priority in January.
The other silver lining – the enormous support for rail from Michiganders. With help from partner groups like MML and MARP, our call to action really went viral. On Facebook, nearly 1,000 people pledged to call Senator Bishop and his office reported getting hundreds of calls. Great work!!
We will need to tap into that passion and support next year, as we seek to pass this and other important rail and transit bills next year. Stay tuned!