The 2022 Minnesota Legislative session convened on January 31st and runs to the third week of May. One of the first things on the House Transportation Committee’s agenda was to hold a hearing on the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). They did that on February 3rd followed by traffic safety on Tuesday the 8th and pedestrian safety on the 10th.
Dorian Grilley, BikeMN’s executive director, testified during the hearing on the 3rd about the biking and walking provisions of the IIJA. You can watch his testimony here. His testimony starts 51:00 minutes into the recording. Lee Ganske, Vice-President of the Greater Mankato Biking and Walking Advocates, and Hannah Haberecht, a medical student from Rochester testified about pedestrian safety in their communities at the hearing on Thursday the 10th. You can watch their testimony here which begins one hour and twenty-two minutes (1:22:30) into the recording. Representative Ruth Richardson, Angie Schmitt, author of Right of Way, and Ashwat Narayanan, Executive Director, Our Streets Minneapolis testified at the beginning of the hearing offering a lot of great information, including statistics documenting the many inequities related to pedestrian safety.
Finally, the Minnesota House Climate Action Caucus has released a $1 billion plan to address climate change that includes $50 million for biking and walking. BikeMN’s other legislative priorities can be found on our Legislative Agenda page.