OLYMPIA – Some animals fared well this week as the Legislature rushed to pass bills before a critical deadline. Folks hoping to sip local liquor at the farmers market, buy pot at a state liquor store or require proof of citizenship before the state gives out a driver’s license, didn’t do as well.

As is the case in most legislative sessions, many bills are all but dead after failing to pass at least one chamber before Monday’s cut off. There are a few parliamentary maneuvers that can shock a bill back to life, but they are far less frequent than a patient recovering when someone grabs defibrillator paddles and yells “Clear” in a TV doctor drama.
  

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OLYMPIA — Churches would be able to hold occasional farmer’s markets on their property without losing their tax exempt status under a bill passed overwhelmingly Wednesday by the Senate.

The Senate gave 46-1 approval to a bill that allows churches and other public meeting places owned by nonprofit organizations to hold farmers markets for as many as 53 days a year, as long as the money the organization gets goes for charitable purposes.

Last summer the state Department of Revenue informed two Spokane churches and one in Millwood they’d have to pay taxes on their property or stop holding farmer’s markets on it. Tax-exempt organizations aren’t allowed to run commercial businesses on their property under state law, the department said.

House Bill 2402 sets up standards that churches and other nonprofits must follow in setting up the markets.  It returns to the House, where it passed 97-0 last month, because of amendments approved in the Senate.