Today was the final day for bills to pass out of committees or die. And today the House Judiciary Committee failed to vote out the Pedestrian Hand Signal bill.

So what happened?

The bill, SB 573, passed the senate 18-8 with bi-partisan support. Interestingly, of the eight "no" votes, seven were from Democrats. The bill received a ton of media coverage, some negative, and some legislators distanced themselves from the creative idea.

In the House, Ashland Democrat Representative Peter Buckley worked hard with us to build support, and Senator Ginny Burdick pitched in from the other chamber. But we continued to struggle getting Democrats on board, and unlike the Senate, we failed to get one Republican Representative to support the bill.

At today's work session, I believe that we had four of the five Democrats needed to pass the bill to the floor. The fifth, Beaverton's Rep. Suzanne Bonamici fell off the fence into the "no" camp. The bill died. On that note, I was disappointed because after multiple requests, I could not get a personal meeting with Rep. Bonamici.

This bill is the buried type dead, the headstone newly engraved and set. This bill has neither the votes nor the energy to get on to some last-minute legislative "Christmas-tree" bill. Luckily for my local gas station, I'll continue my boring auto-commute to lobby on at least three other significant bicycle bills. (More on that soon.)

Again on the sunnier side, I think that the Ped. Hand Signal got a lot of air-time and the bill has helped raise the awareness of pedestrian and bicyclist safety. A few legislators expressed interest in a local test-pilot ordinance, and I think that's a great idea. There are more than a handful of cities ready to innovate and take pedestrian safety and access to the next level.

Unfortunately the 2007 Oregon Legislature was not ready… but there is always 2009.

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