Olypmia Its a question that Republican senators have asked during state budget battles from time to time: Why cant Washington, flush with marijuana tax revenue far outpacing old projections, use that money to help solve the states school-funding crisis?
Well, it can. To a small extent it already does. And there is at least surface-level bipartisan agreement that maybe the state should look at pot money as a partial solution to the education-funding gap that the Supreme Court has ordered the Legislature to fill.
But, Democrats are quick to point out, theres not a big pile of marijuana tax money just sitting around its already being spent in other ways.
And with Democrats and Republicans still unable to agree on how much money they need to satisfy the courts McCleary decision, the question of where, specifically, that money should come from can feel secondary.
Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, thinks it will cost $2.75 billion above current funding levels, over the next two-year budget period, for the state to fully fund the public schools.
Legislative Democrats would bump current levels by $1.6 billion.
Legislative Republicans wont say what they think it will cost. So far, they wont say when theyll release a proposal, although they promise it will be soon.
Thats despite a nearly yearlong bipartisan task force that was supposed to come up with cost estimates by the time the Legislature began, a deadline that came and went this month.
Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, served on that task force, and at a news conference earlier this month was more strident on rededicating marijuana tax money than on when her party would present a full education funding plan.
Marijuana revenue needs to go to education, I think it should be devoted, Rivers said. I think its absolutely appropriate to take the money, set it aside, and say this is only education.
Inslee said he was open to talking about reallocating marijuana money to help with McCleary, but that it wasnt nearly enough.
I have had this discussion dozens of times, it doesnt come close, it doesnt come within 1,000 yards, it doesnt come within several billion dollars of needs, Inslee said. Its in the tens of millions rather than the several billions.
The governor undersold the states marijuana money by quite a bit. Washington is expected to collect more than $730 million in marijuana tax revenue over the next two budget years.
Thats not tens of millions, but its also not enough to fund Inslees or the Democrats McCleary proposals. And, until Republicans release a plan of their own, theres no way to know whether it could fund their proposal.
Plus, the majority of that money is currently spoken for: Its specified by the 2012 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana to go toward health-care and substance-abuse programs.
If you dedicate marijuana money to education, youd have to see where youre going to cut from the things that are currently being funded by that marijuana money, House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said.
Where does the marijuana money go?
The bulk of Washingtons marijuana tax money comes from a 37 percent tax levied on all retail sales of any marijuana product.
In Colorado, which has a lower rate and collects much less revenue from marijuana, much of the tax money goes to schools, with substantial portions also going to public-health, substance-abuse and affordable-housing programs.
California, which projects as much as $1 billion in annual tax revenue when its new recreational-marijuana law goes into effect, will spend the bulk of that on substance-abuse education and treatment programs.
The debate in Washington is a bit of a replay of the last time legislators had to hash out a two-year budget. In 2015, Republicans looked at projected marijuana revenues and essentially said, great, lets use that money to plug our budget holes.
At some point you have to say, Holy cow, we have a lot of money, the late Sen. Andy Hill, then the lead Republican budget writer, said in 2015. We should be able to get this job done very quickly.
Democrats, meanwhile, downplayed marijuana money, considering revenue estimates to be far too optimistic.
Marijuana stores could be the size of a Costco and we wouldnt be able to sell that much weed, then-Rep. Ross Hunter, the Democrats chief budget writer at the time, said in 2015.
I dont buy this for a New York minute, then-Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, now a state senator, said of marijuana revenue estimates.
The Democrats underestimated Washingtons appetite for pot.
In 2015, the state forecast $374 million in marijuana tax revenue for the 2016-2017 budget period, which will end this June. According to the latest revenue numbers, the state is on pace to collect nearly $472 million in marijuana taxes over that time period.
The 2015 forecast estimated $695 million in marijuana tax revenue in the 2018-2019 budget period. The latest forecast is for more than $730 million.
Still, even $730 million in marijuana revenue can disappear pretty quickly when you start tallying it up.
Theres about $20 million for the state Liquor and Cannabis Control Board to oversee marijuana sales and collect tax money.
About $20 million for marijuana-education and youth-prevention programs.
Theres $55 million for substance-abuse prevention and treatment.
About $35 million for community health centers, providing primary and dental care.
And then the big chunk: Nearly $360 million to help fund the states share of Medicaid, which gives health insurance to nearly 1.8 million low-income Washingtonians.
Thats only a small share of all Medicaid spending in Washington, which totals about $22 billion per two-year budget cycle, with more than 60 percent paid by the federal government.
Whats left over of the marijuana tax income, an estimated $240 million over the next two fiscal years, goes into the states general fund.
A big chunk of that general- fund money already goes to public education.
What about Lottery money?
Rivers, in her remarks earlier this month, also hinted at using another sin tax to help with education funding.
The Lottery dollars were at one point supposed to go to education, she said. Howd that work out for us? Who knows where they go now, maybe some of it goes to education, maybe not.
Almost all of it goes to education.
Of the $175 million in tax revenue that the Lottery brought in last fiscal year, nearly $129 million went to Washington Opportunity Pathways, which funds college scholarships and financial aid, early learning programs and charter schools. About $32 million went to the general fund. The rest mostly went to repaying the debt on Seattles professional football stadium.
I think a lot of citizens thought when the Washington Lottery was adopted, that this was going to solve all the educational needs in the state of Washington, Inslee said. It just doesnt come close, and marijuanas in a similar situation.
With so little agreement on how much money is needed for the states schools, Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, also downplayed the source of the money.
Whether the money comes from the tremendous growth in revenue weve had, whether it comes from marijuana Schoesler said. I think all money is green in this budget.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Is Marijuana Money The Answer To Fund Washington Schools?
Author: David Gutman
Contact: The Seattle Times
Photo Credit: Mark Nowlin
Website: The Seattle Times
