(BIVN) – Hawaii State legislative leadership says there will be a special session before the end of the summer in order to take on funding for Honolulu’s rail project.

Senate President Ronald Kouchi and new House Speaker Scott Saiki sent a joint letter to the Executive Director of the Federal Transit Administration, “advising the FTA of the Legislature’s commitment to convene a special session in July or August,” a media release states.

The lawmakers say there are specific dates set for the special session, and a rail funding mechanism has yet to be agreed upon. The session is being convened “to assure the FTA that the Legislature recognizes and understands the requirements under the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) between the City and County of Honolulu and the FTA.”

An attempt to fund the rail project fell flat at the state legislature this year, resulting in leadership changes in both House and Senate chambers.

In May, Governor David Ige called talk of holding a special session “premature”, and “a waste of time”, without a plan about how to fund the project. State legislators told the FTA they are going ahead with a special session, nonetheless.

“The purpose of this letter is to communicate the strength of our collective resolve to craft a legislative solution that will provide the City and County of Honolulu with a dedicated revenue stream that, along with the Full Funding Grant Agreement, will enable the City and County of Honolulu to complete construction of the Minimum Operable Segment (MOS) of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project (HRTP),” the message to FTA Executive Director Matt Welbes reads. “Given the travel schedules of our members, we are planning and commit to a special session in the July to August 2017 timeframe.”

“It is a highly encouraging sign that the leaders of the Hawai‘i State Legislature have assured the Federal Transit Administration that a special session will soon be convened. It is important that state and local governments continue to work together to ensure funding obligations under the full funding agreement will be met so that work on rail will be completed as agreed. I will continue my efforts to ensure that FTA understands our commitment to this critical project.”

Kouchi and Saiki said they came to their conclusion after working with members of Hawaii’s federal delegation.

Senator Brian Schatz issued a statement on Monday.

“It is a highly encouraging sign that the leaders of the Hawai‘i State Legislature have assured the Federal Transit Administration that a special session will soon be convened. It is important that state and local governments continue to work together to ensure funding obligations under the full funding agreement will be met so that work on rail will be completed as agreed. I will continue my efforts to ensure that FTA understands our commitment to this critical project,” Schatz said.