Carlos Coutinho commented
2024-01-30 17:57:22 -0500
Massachusetts Lobby Day Recap: Building Bike-Friendly Momentum on Beacon Hill
Written by Jes Slavin
January 29, 2024
Senator Will Brownsberger addresses advocates
On Thursday, January 25th MassBike hosted a Lobby Day at the State House to build bike-friendly momentum on Beacon Hill. Over forty advocates from across the Commonwealth joined to meet with their local legislators with three major goals in mind: build relationships, highlight local bicycling issues, and encourage their legislators to take action on MassBike’s priority bills.
Our day began with a briefing from some of our bike-friendly champions on Beacon Hill. We heard from Senator Will Brownsberger, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Tommy Vitolo, Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, and Representative Michelle Ciccolo. Each legislator spoke on bike-friendly issues that are important to them and gave tips on how to build relationships during constituent meetings. At the end of the briefing, Eric Helmuth, one of Senator Brownsberger’s staffers, provided us with tips on lobbying best practices. Eric stressed that meeting with a legislative aide is just as effective as meeting with the legislators themselves, as they are the ones keeping track of issues in the office.
Throughout the day, advocates met with their Senators and Representatives to share why bicycling is important to their communities, chat about local bike-friendly issues, and draw attention to MassBike’s priority bills this session. We were encouraged to hear that in most meetings our priority bills were received well and that many attendees felt that they had built connections with their legislators' offices.
We’d like to extend a big thank you to Senator Brownsberger and his staff for hosting us at the State House. The ability to have a room for “home base” throughout the day made it easy for participants to reconvene between meetings and allowed the MassBike team to engage in some great conversations with local advocates. A special thank you to all the legislators who took time out of their busy schedules to address our group. We’re grateful to have bike-friendly champions in Senator DiDomenico, Representative Vitolo, Representative Sabadosa, and Representative Ciccolo.
If you were unable to attend the lobby day, you can still take action to build a relationship with your local legislators and bring attention to MassBike’s priority bills by setting up meetings in your district. Read on below to learn more about our priority bills, links to our one-pagers, and how you can set up meetings.
Some MassBike Staff and Board at Lobby Day
MassBike’s Legislative Priorities
MassBike discussed four main priorities during our meetings: roadway safety, automated enforcement, electric-assist bicycles, and multi-use trails. Each of our priorities has bills that we are seeking to get out of committee before the February 7th deadline.
Below you’ll find the list of bills that we’re advocating for, the goal is to get them reported favorably out of committee. This would get them one step closer to being enacted during the 193rd session.
Roadway Safety
An Act relative to roadway safety
Filed by: Representative Tommy Vitolo (15th Norfolk)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.3470
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Transportation
What this legislation does: Redefines crosswalks as "marked crossings" and expands protections to "vulnerable users"
An Act to promote safe bicycle-yielding
Filed by: Representative Jennifer Balinsky Armini (8th Essex) and Representative Lindsay N. Sabadosa (1st Hampshire)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.3702
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Transportation
What this legislation does: Allows bicyclists to legally treat stop signs as "yield"
Automated Enforcement
An Act for an equitable ten-community pilot program to improve traffic safety
Filed by: Senator Will Brownsberger (Suffolk and Middlesex)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): S.1483
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
What this legislation does: Enacts a ten-community pilot program to test automated enforcement in Massachusetts
An Act relative to automated enforcement
Filed by: Representative Steven Owens (29th Middlesex), Representative Manny Cruz (7th Essex)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.3393
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Transportation
What this legislation does: Allows the use of automated motor vehicle sensor devices for motor vehicles committing camera-enforceable violations (for example: running red lights)
Electric Assist Bicycles
An Act relative to class 3 electric bicycles
Filed by: Senator DiDomenico (Middlesex and Suffolk)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): S.2230
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Transportation
What this legislation does: Adds a definition for Class-3 e-bikes to state law and cleans up the e-bike definition bill from the last session
Note: The Governor did include a class-3 e-bike definition in her budget, which shows this is a priority of the administration
An Act expanding community access to electric bicycles
Filed by: Representative Natalie Blais (1st Franklin)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.3145
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy
What this legislation does: Establishes a grant program to fund e-bikes for municipalities, non-profits, and businesses
Multi-Use Trails
An Act establishing the municipal utility corridor public access program
Filed by: Representative Michelle Ciccolo (15th Middlesex)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.3158
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy
What this legislation does: The Department of Public Utilities shall establish a municipal utility corridor public access program
An Act to Establish a Local Option Municipal Excise Tax on Unused Utility Corridors
Filed by: Representative Michelle Ciccolo (15th Middlesex)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.4000
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Revenue
What this legislation does: Allows municipalities to tax unused utility corridors to incentivize utilities to allow public access or to sell to the state or others to be turned into recreational trails
An Act Creating the Outdoor Recreation Program
Filed by: Senator Paul Feeney (Bristol and Norfolk)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): S.488
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
What this legislation does: Creates an outdoor recreation program in Massachusetts
An Act Creating the Outdoor Recreation Program
Filed by: Representative Natalie Blais (1st Franklin)
Bill Numbers (193rd Session): H.757
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
What this legislation does: Enables certain sales tax revenues to be dedicated to an outdoor recreation trust fund
Galen Mook, MassBike Executive Director, addresses participants
Take Action
If you were unable to join us at the State House or haven’t already set up a meeting in your district, we encourage you to set up a meeting with your local legislators! This is a great opportunity to start building relationships with your elected officials and generate more bike-friendly momentum in Massachusetts.
- Use Find My Legislator to find the contact information for your legislators' offices
- Reach out via email or by phone to ask to set up a meeting in your district
- Review our resources below in advance of the meeting
- Meet with your legislators/their aides and build relationships!
- Let MassBike know how it went by reaching out to us at [email protected]
A reminder, often when setting up a meeting you will talk with a legislative aide, while it may feel disappointing to not talk to the legislator themselves, if an aide cares about an issue then the legislator will too!