A measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Washington state has enough certified signatures to go to the Legislature for consideration, Secretary of State Sam Reed announced today.

Initiative 502 would allow people over the age of 21 to buy marijuana at stores regulated by the state Liquor Control Board. People could buy up to an ounce at a time, and it would also set a new standard for driving while under the influence of marijuana. You can read the full text here.

Sponsors of the marijuana measure submitted 354,608 signatures — far more than what’s required for a statewide proposition. Lawmakers can pass the measure, or reject it and let it go to the November ballot for voters to decide.

Earlier today, the Senate heard a bill that aims to give cities and counties more control over how they can regulate medical marijuana.

Tags: legalization, marijuana, Secretary of State, tax

Today, protesters from around the state gathered in Olympia for the first day of special session. This morning, Jessica Gao got this photo:

This afternoon, the protesters headed to the House Ways and Means Committee hearing. During briefing on a bill, they erupted into chants, including “We need to work together,” and “Fund our schools.” The committee took a break, but the protesters continued. Stay tuned for more.

Tags: Budget, Occupy, protests, tax

The House State Government Committee is considering a bill to increase liquor licensing fees by 10 percent — while keeping the previous 10.5 percent increase in place. The money would go toward prevention programs and community mobilization grants.

“We need to start looking at bills that help small businesses. This bill does not help small businesses,” said T.K. Bentler. “Keep in mind, last year you raised cigarette taxes,” he said, driving customers out of state.

But Daniel Kittner, a student who battled a drug and alcohol problem, is in favor of the bill because prevention programs — like those that would be funded by the fee increase — helped him. “I signed up for AP classes and at first they were very overwhelming,” he said, but the program helped him stay motivated.

One representative asked whether this would truly be considered a fee increase — or whether it’s actually more of a tax, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

Bruce Beckett with the Washington Restaurant Association says 90 percent or more of liquor license fees go toward other programs, like DSHS. He said there needs to be a connection between the fee and what it’s funding.

Another person said they have no problem with the programs that would be funded, but they have a problem with increasing fees during a recession.

Halie Gia with Puget Sound ESD said she started using heroin a year to a year and a half ago. She said she has benefited from the drug prevention program through the ESD. “I’ve been given options, I’ve been shown treatment and I’ve been shown places I could get help,” she said, from her prevention and intervention specialist. “Without everything that they’ve done for me, I wouldn’t have been here today.” Another student struggled with cocaine addiction, and another was hooked on ADHD drugs and Ecstasy. They, too, said they credited the program with saving them from addiction.

The committee passed the bill and it now heads to Ways and Means.

Tags: fee, liquor license fees, prevention programs, tax

Find out what’s candy and what’s not under the new state law — and how that will affect what you pay:

And on Inside Olympia, Austin Jenkins interviewed business groups about their legislative priorities — and the November election:

Tags: Business, candy, elections, Inside Olympia, tax, The Impact, TVW

Gov. Chris Gregoire just signed the tobacco tax bill into law. It will raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by $1 per pack.

I’ll be live-blogging from the bill signing, which includes the taxes on soda, candy and bottled water. Refresh your browser for more.

“When I released my first Book 1 budget in December,” she said, “I was forced to recommend the elimination of such vital programs as K-12 levy equalization” for property poor districts, Basic Health, maternity support services, hospice care and more. “These choices would have destroyed the safety net for our seniors and our most vulnerable citizens.” She said given the “tremendous personal and social costs,” it made sense to pass a “modest” revenue package.

She said this package raises revenue through commonsense approaches. “The intent of the three-year temporary taxes on soda and beer, for example,” will go to maternity support for at-risk moms, early childhood education, Meals on Wheels, adult hospice care, Apple Health insurance and more.

Gregoire said she thanks the Legislature, Department of Revenue and others who worked on the budget.

After her brief statement she signed the bill, the bill signing photographer is arranging the dozens of supporters behind her so they fit in the photo.

Now for the lottery bill, which directs lottery money to be deposited into the “Opportunity Pathways” account, which will help fund higher education scholarships, research and more.

Now, for Q&A:

“There were folks who requested a section,” be vetoed, she said. She said specifically that Speaker Frank Chopp “asked for a veto of the pop tax,” she said, but she didn’t veto it because she didn’t hear similar requests from Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.

She said she “hopes the citizens of the state of Washington are willing to step up” to 2 cents per can of pop, if it’s put to a vote. “The benefits of doing so when it comes to children’s health … I think it’s time for all of us to contribute a small amount.”

She said if smaller bottlers and distributors have been targeted (they were meant to be exempt), the Legislature would fix that next session. She said that was never the intent.

“As I look back in history in our state, the last time we had a recession of any magnitude was in the early ’80s,” she said. Republicans at that time raised the equivalent of $1.8 billion. “So this is not about partisan politics,” she said, it’s about making the way through the worst time since the Great Depression.

She was asked whether she would sign the initiative petition to create a high-earners income tax?

“I will sign the petition because I really do think it’s time for us to have a good discussion in the state of Washington about how are we going to fund education?” She said she hopes the income tax debate will allow the state to have that discussion. “I think it’s healthy for the state of Washington to have this debate.” (more…)

Tags: bill signing, Gregoire, tax

Here’s a list of the bills Gov. Chris Gregoire will sign into law tomorrow at 1:30 in her conference room — including the bills to raise $800 million in taxes:

• Engrossed House Bill No. 1690, relating to public works projects.

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 2493, relating to the taxation of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

• Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 2630, relating to creating the opportunity express program.

• House Bill No. 2694, relating to a bachelor of science in nursing program at the University Center.

• House Bill No. 3219, relating to technical corrections to the Revised Code of Washington.

• Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill No. 6143, relating to modifying excise tax laws to preserve funding for public schools, colleges, and universities, as well as other public systems essential for the safety, health, and security of all Washingtonians.

• Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill No. 6409, relating to creating the Washington opportunity pathways account.

• Engrossed Senate Bill No. 6870, relating to containing costs for services to sexually violent predators.

I’ll be there blogging and TVW will be covering it, but it won’t be aired live. I’ll post it online as soon as it’s available.

Tags: bills, tax

(Via WaVotes): Gov. Chris Gregoire was scheduled to sign Senate Bill 6143 — the tax package — today, but it’s been moved to Friday.

If you’re interested in legislative action today, watch the Joint Audit and Legislative Review Committee, the first segment of which is online now. Another session will begin at 1 p.m.

Tags: tax

On a motion to adopt the conference committee tax package, Sen. Joe Zarelli said the bill will increase the B&O tax and the soda tax. He said a distributor in his area will have to reduce workforce by 10 percent, increase costs and make other adjustments to cover the tax increase. He also said the beer tax will be tripled. In all, he said the taxes discourage employment. “Jobs will be lost because of this.” He said the Legislature is raising taxes because they can’t figure out how to cut spending — but businesses have had to do just that.

No one else spoke on the conference committee motion.

Watch live on TVW.

Now for final passage debate. (more…)

Tags: tax

Jerry Cornfield at the Everett Herald has the details on what he calls the “go home” tax proposal: It does not include a sales tax but does have a two cent tax on soda, and a beer tax.

And here’s Andrew Garber’s post.

Stay tuned. We’re camping out in the capitol.

Update: Here‘s the House Democratic Caucus blog’s take on the package.

Update 2: Rep. Jeff Morris said via Twitter that leadership has agreed on the proposal, and they’re counting votes now. “If we have them we can go home.” In a subsequent message, he said “If we have the votes the budget writers can put the final budget together. Taxes are a serious decision not done easily or taken.”

Update 3: Austin Jenkins is reporting the above info was “a mistake” and the tax package isn’t finished yet. Read his blog here.

Tags: tax

Andrew Garber at The Seattle Times and Rachel La Corte at the Associated Press are reporting that the Senate is dropping the sales tax from its proposal in an effort to get an agreement.

The House and Senate must agree on a tax package and budget by Tuesday — the final day of the 30-day special session.

I’ll update as soon as we know anything more.

Update 1: The House Democratic Caucus blog suggests that if everyone can agree on this package, special session could be wrapped up by this weekend.

Update 2: Here’s Rachel La Corte’s updated story. It indicates there could be agreement tonight.

Tags: tax