House Bill 1864, Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1864: Transportation appropriations for the 2013-15 biennium and supplemental appropriations for the 2011-2013 fiscal period. Passed the House on April 16, 2013 by a vote of 68-28.

This is the House version of the Transportation Budget that makes appropriations for state transportation agencies and programs for 2013-15, as well as supplemental and revised appropriations for the 2011-13 biennium. Notable items include $1.27 billion for extensions of Highways 167 and 509, which are considered key for moving freight to the Port of Tacoma and around SeaTac airport; $675 million for widening I-405 between Lynnwood and Renton; $420 million for the North Spokane Corridor; $175 million for roads serving Joint Base Lewis McCord; $135 million for widening I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass; and an additional $100 million to the new Highway 520 bridge. An amendment to the bill requires that sufficient funding must be in place before construction on any part of State Route 520 between Interstate 5 and the western landing of the floating bridge begins.

House Bill 1001, Substitute House Bill 1001: Allowing beer and wine sales at movie theaters. Passed the Senate on April 12, 2013 by a vote of 27-21. The bill has passed both houses and is subject to concurrence on amendments before it goes to the Governor.

The bill creates a theater license to sell beer, including strong beer, and wine, at retail for consumption on theater premises. The annual fee for such license is $400. No food requirements are specified. A Senate amendment specifies that only theaters with four or fewer screens are eligible for the license. “Theater” is defined as a place of business where motion pictures or other primarily non-participatory entertainment are shown. The House and Senate also passed SB 5607, which creates a spirits, beer and wine license for dinner theaters with 120 seats or fewer per screen. A full meal must be served in such theaters to be eligible for the license.

Senate Bill 5437, Substitute Senate Bill 5437: Increasing the penalties for boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Passed the House on April 17, 2013 by a vote of 84-13. The bill has passed both houses.

The bill raises boating under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or any drug from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor offense with a penalty of $1,000. A person is considered under the influence if, within two hours of operating a vessel he or she has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher; a THC (marijuana) concentration of 5.0 nanograms per milliliter or higher; or is otherwise under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor, marijuana, or any drug. The bill also revises boating safety requirements with a penalty of $500 for violations.

Senate Bill 5282, Senate Bill 5282: Requiring top-five sponsor identification when political committee advertising costs on ballot measures reach a cumulative $1,000. Passed the House on April 15, 2013 by a vote of 72-25. The bill has passed both houses.

The bill provides that a political committee must list the names of its five largest contributors on broadcasted or written advertising that supports or opposes a ballot measure when the cumulative value of the committee’s advertisements about that ballot measure is at least $1,000. Yard signs, and other forms of advertising where identification is impractical, such as campaign buttons, balloons, pens, pencils, skywriting, and inscriptions, are exempt from the sponsor identification requirement.

House Bill 1971, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1971: Revising the funding and taxation of communications services. Passed the House on April 16, 2013 by a vote of 74-22.

This bill requires retailers of prepaid wireless telephone services to collect and remit the state Enhanced 911 tax, which is 25 cents per line, in addition to the 70 cents local governments are allowed to charge. The bill also allows retailers of prepaid wireless services to charge an additional 5 cents per transaction to offset the cost of collecting the tax. It repeals the taxes funding the Washington Telephone Assistance and Telecommunications Relay Service programs and requires the programs to be funded by State General Fund appropriations. The bill also repeals the state and local sales and use tax exemption for local residential landline service, which has been in effect since 1983.