State’s Marijuana Taxes May Help Pay for K-12 Education Funding

Washington State lawmakers are struggling to fund the state’s Supreme Court-ordered K-12 education. Republican Senator Ann Rivers suggested to use marijuana tax revenues to fund the state’s education program. It sparked an interesting conversation on the floor.

Some argue that the tax revenue from marijuana isn’t enough to fund K-12 education, according to Seattle PI. The argument is that the immediate need for increased teacher pay and better resources for mental health wouldn’t be met.

Senator Ann Rivers said, “I believe marijuana dollars should go into education. That’s one idea: We put (pot revenue) into a pot and then we use it for one purpose.”

Senator Christine Rolfes replied with, “If we need to dedicate marijuana (income) then I think we are open to that option.”

The marijuana industry in Washington State continues to grow. Revenue was over $1-billion since recreational marijuana sales started in July 2014. It is speculated that about $250 million in revenue has gone to the state. Some of the funds are put into the state’s General Fund, but other portions are given to fund treatment and research programs.

Marijuana income does fund the K-12 “Healthy Use Survey”.

Governor Inslee proposed that $4.4 billion in new revenue would be needed to fully fund K-12 education, which includes proper pay for teachers.

The legislature appeared to be a bit divided on the subject, but all agree that a plan will be put in place. So far, there seems to be support for marijuana revenue to be used to fund K-12 education as it is the most obvious option available.