If not, he said, the issue may be taken out of the hands of lawmakers. Western Washington voters would almost certainly back an immediate ban, Marr believes. "You could put this up as a ballot measure and it would pass instantly," he said.

Washington state forecasters had previously projected a nearly $6 billion shortfall. Thursday's preliminary forecast shows an additional $721 million gap in the current two-year budget and $1.6 billion more in the next biennium that starts in July. That pushed the overall shortfall to $8 billion.

The idea of a state income tax is back on the table again. Senator Rosa Franklin (D) says it's time to revamp the entire tax system and talk about a more sustainable way of funding the state budget. Franklin would like to put a bill before the voters in the next general election. "Whenever you mention taxes, nobody likes to pay taxes. My goal in putting it forward is to have a discussion," Franklin told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson.

Senate Joint Resolution 8209 already has gained bipartisan support, with Sen. Lisa Brown, Senate Democrat leader, at the top of the list of co-sponsors. She worked with Zarelli in 2007 to get the rainy-day fund amendment put on that year’s ballot, where it passed overwhelmingly.

"We knew prior to the November forecast that we would have a shortfall of more than $3 billion." -- Victor Moore, Director, Office of Financial Management (OFM) in Monday's (1/12/09) House Ways and Means hearing.

Despite a bleak financial outlook, Gregoire said this is a time to seize the "huge opportunity" also at hand. "More than ever, the people of Washington do not want partisan politics. They want us to work together to build a better state for them and their children," she said. "So I will challenge all of us today -- and throughout the session -- to join together. Let's use this crisis. Let's summon the courage to make the hard decisions."

The Seattle P-I is being put up for sale, and if after 60 days it has not sold, it will either be turned into a Web-only publication with a greatly reduced staff or discontinued entirely.

OLYMPIA -- During her re-election campaign, Gov. Chris Gregoire blasted Republican challenger Dino Rossi for decisions he made as the Senate's lead budget writer in 2003 -- such as suspending teacher pay raises mandated by voter initiative and cutting funding for children's health care. Gregoire said such moves were out of step with Washington's values. But after winning re-election Gregoire proposed balancing the next state budget with the same types of cuts -- suspended pay raises and reduced eligibility for children's health coverage.

Rossi said the budget sets up an end game in which the Legislature can ask voters to approve new taxes. "In the end, if they really get weak-kneed, which they probably will, they are going to shift out things that people want instead of facing up to some of the constituencies that helped get them elected and call for a tax increase to pay for it," he said. By creating a new tax proposal with a referendum, Democrats can shield themselves from political fallout because the burden moves to the voters, he said.

• It can do so with a 50-percent-plus vote of the Senate and House, and then of the people; or • Two-thirds of the Senate and House members vote to raise taxes and the public can repeal them by referendum; or • Two-thirds of the Senate and House members vote to raise taxes and declare it a public emergency, which takes away the people's right of referendum. At the next general election the public can vote on the idea via a nonbinding advisory ballot.