Budget & Taxes

WA Bill Tracker

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*Green icons = bill is moving forward; Yellow = delayed or facing hurdles; Red = failed

Budget and taxes

Green dot

Senate Bill 5796 - Tying cannabis money to objectives

Official bill information: Senate Bill 5796

Description of the bill: This bill creates a framework for distributing a potential cannabis tax revenue fund. The proposed $125 million would go toward communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, including people of color. This bill links specific dollar amounts to certain objectives and details how that pot of money would be dispersed. For instance, it proposes $27.8 million for cities and counties, $49.2 million for the state health authority to conduct its Healthy Youth Survey and $12 million for the department of health to launch a marijuana public education campaign that doesn’t solely highlight abstinence. Reserve funds would be placed into a community reinvestment account and used for violence reduction, economic development, legal assistance and reentry services for people leaving incarceration.

Status: Signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 24, 2022.

 

active

Senate Bill 5505 - Churches and nonprofits hosting farmers markets

Official bill information: Senate Bill 5505

Description of the bill: This bill would permanently reinstate a tax break that allows churches and nonprofits to host farmers markets without compromising their tax-exempt status. The legislature had established a temporary exception in 2010, but it expired at the end of 2020. If SB 5505 doesn’t pass, several farmers markets around the state — including in Bellevue, Poulsbo and Friday Harbor — would need to move from their current homes at churches and nonprofits to locations that allow business activity.

Status: Signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 17, 2022.

Red dot

House Bill 1827 and Senate Bill 5706 - Reallocating cannabis funds

Official bill information: House Bill 1827; Senate Bill 5706; 

Description of the bills: These bills would create a community investment fund with tax revenue from cannabis sales, reassigning $125 million to communities impacted by the war on drugs. The legislation would align with Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed supplemental budget released in December as well as recommendations from the state’s Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force. It’s an attempt to grapple with the legacy of the war on drugs and how the burdens of that policy disproportionately impacted people of color, specifically Black communities. The funds would go toward programs that aim to prevent violence, ease reentry for formerly incarcerated people, offer grants to first-time homebuyers and small business owners and provide legal aid.

Status: HB 1827 stalled in the House Rules Committee; SB 5706 stalled in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.