HB 2912 passed the house today which is good news but the bad news is an exception was written into the bill which would not allow the money generated to be used for Husky Stadium, Key Arena, or Safeco Field. It is kind of ridiculous because funding sports stadiums was the reason for the tax in the first place.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, who chairs the Finance Committee, said he'd prefer to leave those decisions up to King County. But he said the bill couldn't get enough votes to advance with the stadiums still in it.
"This is not a done deal," said Hunter, who predicted some version of HB 2912 would be one of the last bills still in play at the end of the 60-day legislative session. "I just don't know what's going to happen in the end."
At face value this seems like a devastating defeat for the UW Athletic Department and Husky fans. The thing to remember is that politics are an interesting game and as this one moves on to the Senate this bill can be ammended to include about anything.