The Seattle Nightlife and Music Association (SNMA) is a coalition of music, night club, and bar interests formed to educate elected officials, civic and community leaders, and the media on the serious issues facing the music and nightlife industry in Seattle.

• Provide our customers a safe and vibrant nightlife.
• Protect music venue, bar, and club owner's rights.
• Respond to proposals which impact our industry.
• Support our local communities.
• Promote responsible music venue, bar, and club management.

On March 1 at 10 AM in Olympia, the House Finance Committee will be holding a public hearing HB 1811, the Sprinkler Bill which gives a two year extension for compliance and provides a small tax break for business owners who are required to install the systems. We want to thank all those club owners who volunteered to attend the February 9th hearing – Little Red Hen, Tractor Tavern, RPlace, Fuel, Trinity and Nuemos. Your testimony and support were critical in getting the legislation moved out of the Local Government Committee. If possible, we need you to attend the March 1 meeting as well. If you are able to attend, please contact Rachel at rachel@seattlenma.org for more information.

Also we need everybody to take moment and contact the chair of the House Finance Chairman Rep. Ross Hunter (Hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov) and express your strong support for the bill. In particular, let him know the how this regulation financially impacts your business and threatens our state’s diverse and vibrant music venues. Please also contact Speaker of the House Rep. Frank Chopp (Chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov) and request his support – particularly the club owners in the 43rd District.

The Sprinkler Bill’s companion legislation in the Senate, SB 5832, was passed out of the Labor and Commerce Committee last week and has now been refrerred to Senate Ways and Means but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. Please email the chair of the Ways and Means Committee Rep. Margarita Prentice (prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov) requesting a hearing on the bill. Cut off dates for passage of these bills is soon approaching and if we don’t make it out of these two committees in the next two weeks these bills are dead and the 2007 date for installation of the sprinklers will be upheld. Also, if you get a chance please email Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (kohl-welles.jeanne@leg.wa.gov) and thank her for her support.
permalink  |  related link  |   The Mayor’s proposed Nightlife Premises License is scheduled for its first legislative briefing by the Mayor’s office at the City Council’s Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee Thursday March, 1 at 9:30 AM. The briefing will take place in the second-floor council chambers at City Hall (600 - 4th Avenue). No action will be taken, though public comment will be accepted so please attend the briefing if you can.

Also, please take a moment to contact committee members and express your opinion about the Mayor’s proposal:

Sally.clark@seattle.gov
Richard.mciver@seattle.gov
Jan.drago@seattle.gov
Peter.steinbrueck@seattle.gov

If you would like assistance with talking points, please email Rachel at rachel@seattlenma.org.

permalink  |  related link  |   The Washington State Liquor Control Board's legislation creating a new "Wine Beer and Spirits Nightlife License" will get its first hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Development. This committee, chaired by Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, will hold the hearing on February 13th at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 4.

More information on the legislation can be found below in the January 31st post "WSLCB Proposed Legislation" and the full text of the Senate legislation can be found here: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007 ... s/5859.pdf. The companion legislation in the House can be read here: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007 ... s/2021.pdf.

We encourage you to review the legislation and consider testifying in Olympia on February 13th. Our elected officials need to hear directly from representatives of our industry on key issues such as this new license. If you have questions, would like further information or would like assistance in preparing talking points please do not hesitate to email rachel@seattlenma.org.

permalink  |  related link  |   Legislation sponsored by the Washington State Liquor Control Board to create a new class of liquor license has been introduced in Olympia. This legislation also removed the mandated caps on the number of liquor licenses the state can issue. See the post below dated January 31st for more information.

While neither the Senate nor House versions have a hearing scheduled yet, we wanted to make you aware of this legislation. The Senate bill can be found at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007 ... s/5859.pdf and the House bill at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007 ... s/2021.pdf. For more information on how to track legislation, please visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/.

We encourage you to read through the legislation to learn more about what is being proposed. SeattleNMA would be interested in your feedback - please email rachel@seattlenma.org with your thoughts on this legislation.

SeattleNMA will continue to provide updates on this legislation and will post notice of the hearings as soon as they are scheduled.


permalink  |  related link  |   For those subjet to sprinkler legislation that are not able to make today's 2:00 briefing at the Little Red Hen (see post below), we've posted suggsted talking points here for your review.

http://seattlenma.org/downloads/Sprinkl ... Points.pdf



permalink  |  related link  |   The Sprinkler Bill (HB 1811) is scheduled for a hearing in the House’s Local Government Committee this Friday, Feb. 9 at 1:30 PM. We need people to turnout and/or contact their legislator in support of the bill.

We have scheduled a pre-hearing meeting for this Tuesday, Feb 6 at 2 PM at the Little Red Hen www.littleredhen.com/ to go over details of testifying in Olympia. This link www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/ provides an excellent overview of most of the details. If you plan to attend Friday’s hearing you may want to take a moment to review – it includes maps and details regarding parking.

So far we have three who have volunteered to testify – a few more would be great to have. We are preparing talking points and will post them shortly.

For those who can not attend please contact your legislator as well as members of the committee www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/LG/Members.htm.

Please see the post below for more information on the Sprinkler Legislation.
permalink  |  related link  |   SeattleNMA has been very successful over the past month working with the Washington State Liquor Control Board to craft a new nightlife liquor license proposal which will help modernize the industry. This new proposal will protect our city’s music community and provide important safeguards for local jurisdictions. While we believe some minor modifications may still be necessary, we feel it is much better proposal than what was initially offered in December. Please take time to review the proposed legislation as it will impact your business. We would be very interested in your feedback. Please email rachel@seattlenma.org with any feedback. The draft legislation can be found at: http://seattlenma.org/downloads/LCB_Pro ... egislation. We will continue to post updates on this important legislation.
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permalink  |  related link  |   Legislation has been introduced in Olympia to modify the current law. HB 1811 sponsored by Representatives Simpson and Pedersen amends the current state statute regarding requiring nightclub to have sprinklers. Here's the link to the bill: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007 ... s/1811.pdf

This bill does a couple of things. First, it extends the date for clubs to be sprinkled from December of 2007 to December of 2009, which we support. Second, it redefines the definition of a nightclub, which we are still reviewing and would be interested in your thoughts on this new definition. Finally, it provides a B&O tax credit for those who are required to install these systems. While a few parts of the bill may need a little more work, overall SeattleNMA believe it is a very good bill and we support its passage.

Please take a moment to review this bill and provide any feedback. The Senate will be introducing similar legislation and both the House and Senate will soon be holding hearings on this legislation. We will need affected club owners to attend and testify in support of these bills. You can keep track of the status of this bill here http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ and we will continue to post important updates here on our website.
permalink  |  related link  |   The latest edition of The Weekly has an excellent piece on the impacts of Washington's smoking ban. Here's the link: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0704/butts.php

Clearly the 25 foot rule is having major impacts on litter in the city. A solution to this problem may be to eliminate the 25 foot rule and allow bars, restaurants and nightclubs to provide a designated outdoor smoking area and require these establishments to provide ashtrays for their customers.
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