Senate gives Sonics arena new life

OLYMPIA – A day after a group called Citizens for More Important Things handed out school pencils and Band-Aids at the capitol, a controversial tax plan to help pay for a $500 million new Seattle SuperSonics arena on Friday passed a key hurdle.

“Let’s see if we can make this work,” said Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island.

The state Senate’s budget committee voted to support a $278 million tax package for a new arena in Renton. The owners of the teams have been telling lawmakers for months that Seattle’s KeyArena, remodeled and expanded in the mid-1990s, is too small and outdated.

The stadium taxes, however, still face an uphill fight in the statehouse. House Speaker Frank Chopp and many other lawmakers say they’re reluctant to devote tax dollars to a professional sports arena.

“What we’re really doing is subsidizing player payroll,” said Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina. “I cannot see how we as a legislature can subsidize Ray Allen for $16 million a year when we cannot pay a starting wage for a teacher of $31,000.”

The money in the bill would come from extending a King County surcharge on hotel, auto-rental, and food-and-beverage taxes. Those taxes, currently devoted to paying of Safeco Field, Qwest field and the now-gone Kingdome, would otherwise start expiring in 2012.

The tax plan would also raise another $227 million from a King County sales tax – now paying off Qwest and Safeco Fields – which would pay for arts, cultural programs and ball fields throughout King County.

The new arena’s strongest advocate in the Legislature is Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, the powerful chairwoman of the budget committee. It would be an economic shot in the arm, she says, and the building would double as an events center for conventions and other gatherings.

Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, echoed those points during a hearing on the bill. South King County “has been the second cousin to the city of Seattle and Bellevue for 70 years now,” she said.

Other lawmakers said they have reservations, but trust Prentice to work out the details with reluctant lawmakers, most notably Speaker of the House Chopp, D-Seattle.

“For me, the lump under the rug is the money,” said Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland. But, he added, “I’m going to take my cues from the chair, who says we can keep working this deal.”