State lawmakers continue to pass bills—more than 600 so far, in advance of Wednesday’s 5:00 p.m. deadline for bills to pass in their house of origin. Lawmakers will then have until March 29th to move bills from the opposite chamber out of their respective committees and until April 12th for the full House and Senate to consider them.  Any bill that does not meet these cut-off dates is likely dead for the year.  This year’s 105-day regular session is scheduled to end on April 23rd.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 27-25 in favor of a permanent state income tax ban (SJR 8204), but the measure failed for lack of the two-thirds majority (33 votes) required to pass a proposed constitutional amendment. A companion measure in the House (HJR 4207) has not received a hearing in committee.

During floor debate on SJR 8204, several opponents of the measure said that there is no real support for a state income tax in the legislature, and that sending a proposed constitutional amendment to voters is “a waste of time.”

It is clear, however, that income tax advocates are now promoting a city income tax to generate a legal test case to overturn the state’s 84 year old ban. On its website, the Transit Riders Union, in a “Trump Proof Seattle—Tax Unearned Wealth” campaign, says it wants to impose a 2.5 percent income tax in Seattle.  The group says it believes today’s more political state supreme court would allow a state income tax.

Also on Tuesday, an attempt to bring the Governor’s proposed $5.5 billion state tax on capital gains income (SB 5111) to the floor failed to garner the two-thirds majority approval required by Senate rule for procedural moves on tax bills.  Surprisingly, Senate Democratic leaders led the move to defeat the bill.

In other action, both the House (HB 1371) and the Senate (SB 5289) have approved versions of a “Driving Under the Influence of Electronics Act ” to ban motorists from using handheld devices such as smart phones. The House distracted-driving bill passed by a 52-45 vote on Tuesday, after the Senate version was approved Monday by a 36-13 vote. Both chambers will now consider each other’s versions, before a combined bill comes to a final vote and is sent to the Governor.

The Senate on Monday approved SB 5333 by a vote of 34-15, to move Washington state’s presidential primary from May to March. The measure was requested by Secretary of State Kim Wyman.  She said our state would be more relevant in choosing presidential nominees if Washington’s primary were held earlier.

Under the bill, the presidential primary election would take place on the second Tuesday in May, unless the secretary of state moves it to a later date as part of a regional primary. Voters would not have to declare a party affiliation, as they do now, and would not be allowed to write in candidates when voting in the primary election. The bill is now headed to the House for consideration.

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