Washington GOP lawmaker slices beef checkoff hike

Given a second take, a Moses Lake Republican passed through the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday a bill to raise the beef checkoff by 50 cents this year, but without another increase in two year. The committee had passed the checkoff bill March 23. The bill then called for a 50-cent increase now and another 50-cent hike in 2019. A procedural error, however, forced the committee to vote again.Between last week and this week, Rep. Tom Dent, who’s taken a lead on the issue, reconsidered his position.Dent said the majority of producers he’s heard from support a $1 increase. But he noted that the industry was not unanimous, so he dropped the second half-dollar hike.  The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said after the House committee vote that she preferred a $1 hike, but agreed to Dent’s proposal.