OLYMPIA, Wash. — The effort to bring a high-speed rail line to western Washington continues with the state readying itself for more possible grant opportunities. The state was recently awarded $500,000 in grant funding to help cover the cost of planning. Next week, the state will meet with federal rail officials about applying for $250 million in grants to eventually begin development, according to Ron Pate, the director of rail, freight and ports for the Washington State Department of Transportation. The $250 ...
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![King 5: Effort to bring high-speed rail line to western Washington remains on track](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/20230301_152738aa-1140x600.jpg)
![Mountlake Terrace News: Liias’ sustainable aviation fuels bill clears committee](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/testimony-847x477-1.jpg)
Communities near Paine Field in Everett suffer from some of the worst air quality in the state. Sen. Marko Liias grew up nearby in a neighborhood overburdened by pollution. This experience was, in part, the motivation behind the 21st District Democrat’s sponsorship of Senate Bill 6114, which cleared the Senate Transportation Committee Monday. According to a news release from Liias’ office, the bill requires airport operators to make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blends available to noncommercial, private jet owners with the ...
Read More![Washington State Standard: WA Senate wants LGBTQ+ history and perspectives taught in public schools](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/pride-1024x600.jpg)
Public schools must integrate instruction about the contributions and perspectives of LGBTQ+ people into their curricula under legislation the Washington state Senate approved on Wednesday. Senate Bill 5462 passed on a mostly party-line vote following a brief floor debate in which Democrats said LGBTQ+ students need to know of trailblazing LGBTQ+ individuals. Republicans countered that the goal can be achieved without a state mandate. “We need to tell the stories of the people that have led the way in the progress we ...
Read More![The Everett Herald: Editorial: Finland model for state to reduce traffic deaths](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/35075262_web1_TSR-Brief-I5-Crash-EDH-220216-1140x600.jpg)
It’s not a good sign when drivers in the state are logging fewer miles on roads but suffering more traffic fatalities than in recent years past. Even as drivers traveled about 3 percent fewer miles between 2019 and 2022, traffic deaths — among drivers, passengers, motorcycle riders, cyclists and pedestrians — increased a total of 18 percent during the same period, according to an analysis of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A ...
Read More![Bipartisan group of Washington lawmakers tours I-5 Bridge](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/1014772495-legislator-bridge_9.28_TB08-900x600.jpg)
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers visited the Interstate 5 Bridge on their final leg of a three-day tour of Southwest Washington bridges.
Read More![Ambitious high-speed rail project could have stop in Everett](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/33733377_web1_L1-UltraRail-EDH-230902-FS-1200x800-1-1140x600.jpg)
In a few decades, high-speed rail could be making its way through Everett at 250 mph, linking major metropolitan areas along the upper West Coast, under a “visionary proposal” for funding signed by 10 U.S. legislators in August.
Read More![Local View: Thanks for help, Oregon, now let’s build bridge](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/20170718_150034ab-1140x600.jpg)
Replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Columbia River has been a top priority of communities in Washington and Oregon for years.
Read More![Washington can now look to out-of-state shipbuilders for its next ferries](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1-1140x600.jpg)
Washington state has charted a bipartisan course to overhaul its ferry procurement plans. Officials will now broaden their scope when seeking builders for the state's new ships. When the jumbo ferry M/V Walla Walla lost power and went aground at south Bainbridge Island over the weekend, it once again highlighted the need to upgrade Washington's aging ferry fleet.
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