But the bill came to a halt in the final days of the session after the House attached amendments giving new tax breaks to fruit packers and other businesses. Loveland, who sponsored the original bill, said the amendments killed it. But she said the bill's demise doesn't worry her. She still is not convinced existing laws require the Department of Revenue to impose taxes on growers. The challenge for the bill's backers this year is not support but time.
Lawmakers are anxious to tackle the special session's major issues and head home.
But there is also an extreme reluctance to venture outside the narrow script legislators have set for themselves. If lawmakers don't act, the state could begin taxing packers and growers as early as July 1, Sekerak said. Don't get caught with your hay down. It's the first rule of alfalfa farming. And one that Lower Columbia Basin growers had a hard time keeping Monday as morning rain hit just as many were starting to bale the first cutting.