OLYMPIA — Here is a look at some of the bills being proposed by Southwest Washington lawmakers.
Today is the deadline for bills to be considered by committees in their houses of origin.
Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver
• House Bill 1742: This proposal would allow businesses that sell beer growlers to also sell wine growlers.
The bill would apply to breweries, restaurants, taverns or wineries. A growler is a glass or ceramic jug that is filled to the brim with beer or wine. Some restaurants sell growlers full of beer while others allow patrons to bring their own growlers for filling.
“A lot of wine shops and wineries would like to allow customers to come in and refill their bottles,” Wylie said last week during a public hearing before the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee. “It’s a simple idea, recycles the bottles, and there’s a lot of folks that would like to have it.”
• House Bill 1195: This bill would repeal state laws that exclude certain primary election candidates from appearing on the ballot.
According to state law, if there are only two candidates vying for a local public office, such as a city council seat, then their names are included on the general election ballot but not on the primary election ballot. Wylie’s bill would repeal that rule, and put every candidate on the primary ballot, even if there is only one candidate in the race, said Marsha Reilly, a nonpartisan staff member for the Government Operations and Elections Committee.
Also, when a legislator leaves office early, and it prompts an election in an odd-numbered year, those competing to replace the outgoing official are not placed on the primary ballot if there are two people or fewer running. Wylie’s bill would repeal that rule, too.
The bill would give candidates more freedom when it comes to fundraising, according to those who testified on the bill last month. Campaign donors can give up to $900 to a candidate for the primary election and another $900 to the candidate for the
general election.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing today before members of the House Appropriations Committee.
• House Bill 1300: This proposal would prohibit cemetery districts from selling headstones or grave markers if there is a private, for-profit company that sells them within 50 miles.
Wylie has introduced nine pieces of legislation this session.
Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas
• House Bill 1507: This proposal exempts businesses that license names, images, or intellectual property to electronics manufacturers from paying a fee toward the state’s E-Cycle electronic recycling program.
“This bill says that if you’re a company like Disney, that slaps a logo on one of these products at the very end of production, you don’t have to pay the fee” for “the cost of disposing of a product at the end of its life,” Pike said.
Instead, the actual manufacturer must pay the disposal fee, as opposed to the company whose logo is on the product. The bill passed out of the House Committee on Environment on Wednesday.
• House Bill 1847: This bill would require a municipal petition that contains duplicate signatures from the same person to count just one of the person’s signatures instead of disqualifying all of the person’s signatures. This bill only applies to petitions and initiatives proposed after Jan. 1, 2011.
A group of 75 plaintiffs from Vancouver have challenged the state law on duplicate signatures as unconstitutional after officials struck 606 signatures from a petition that asks the city of Vancouver to place a vote on light-rail funding on the ballot. The names were all stricken for signing more than once, which under state law invalidates the original signature, as well.
The petition asking for a Vancouver vote on light-funding was filed in November 2011.
• House Bill 1722: This bill would create a sales tax exemption and a use tax exemption for businesses purchasing propane or natural gas to heat greenhouses. It would go into effect Aug. 1.
Pike has proposed nine bills this session and said she is unlikely to introduce any more.
