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Committee Hears Bill Letting Counties Form Ferry Districts to Support Vehicle Ferries

House Local Government Committee · January 30, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Lawmakers and county officials told the House Local Government Committee that removing a "passenger-only" restriction from ferry-district law would give counties that operate vehicle ferries a local funding option to maintain aging vessels and ease pressure on county road funds.

The House Local Government Committee heard testimony on House Bill 2588, which would allow counties and county ferry districts to take actions related to the operation of vehicle-carrying ferries as well as passenger-only ferries. Committee staff said the bill "strikes 'passenger only'" language so ferry districts can support vehicle ferries in addition to passenger-only routes.

Sponsor Representative Timmons argued the change restores parity and local problem-solving for counties that operate vehicle ferries. "This bill is about parity, and it's about problem solving locally," Timmons said, noting rising operating costs and fares on the…

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