The looming 2010 budget crisis and two pieces of marijuana legislation seemed to be the topics of the night for the three legislators and two dozen constituents at the 36th District open house Dec. 15.

One attendee said she hoped to hear what legislation Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Rep. Reuven Carlyle and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson were working on, but had a feeling budget talk would largely preempt that.

"We are in a crisis, a very real crisis," Dickerson said. "I don't think the general public realizes the crisis we are in."

Kohl-Welles said the legislature will be facing making amendments to Gov. Chris Gregoire's balanced 2010 budget in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.

The state is facing a $2.6 billion shortfall, even higher than what was anticipated at the end of the last session in April, she said.

"We have to find cuts," she said. "And, there is just very little space to find cuts to make."

Kohl-Welles said many in the legislature believe any further cuts would have a horrendous effect on the quality of life in the state.

One of the only options to get around that is to create new revenue sources, she said.

Dickerson said, with the exception of the property tax and business and occupation tax, everything else is fair game to look at for new revenue.

Michelle Gregoire, Kohl-Welles' legislative assistant, said possible tax increases are already causing concern from constituents, even in one of the most tax-friendly districts in the state.

Dickerson said the challenge for the legislature is to balance to the need to fund critical services without unduly burdening low and middle-income residents and harming the economic recovery.

"It's a crucial time for all services," said one Ballard resident. "Legislators have to make a lot of tough decisions."

One of the areas the legislature will be looking at is tax exemptions, Dickerson said. She said the state has given billions of dollars in exemptions during the past decade, not all of which still make sense.

"I don't think that we need to fund the acquisition of bull semen," she said.

Kohl-Welles said now is the time to seriously look at some form of income tax.

She has introduced legislation that would impose an income tax on "high-earners," defined as an individual earning more than $500,000 per year or a couple earning more than $1 million per year.

Kohl-Welles said she expects to see a citizen initiative on an income tax at some point.

The legislature may also look at extending the sales tax to candy and gum, which would help curb obesity in children, she said.

The two most talked about potential revenue generators were Kohl-Welles' marijuana decriminalization bill and Dickerson's marijuana legalization bill.

The decriminalization bill, the more likely of the two to pass, would make possession of a small amount of marijuana a civil infraction with a $100 fine instead of a criminal misdemeanor.

Kohl-Welles said it would save $16 million per year and generate $1 million from fines.

The legalization bill would bring more money into the state, but is unlikely to pass and would be challenged at the federal level.

Under Dickerson's bill, marijuana production and sales would be taxed. Marijuana would be sold through the state liquor stores and eventually generate as much revenue as liquor sales, she said.

She said marijuana is being treated the same way as alcohol under Prohibition, and it doesn't make sense.

Even though the legislation will likely not pass, it is important to get the conversation started about the issues around legalization and should help other decriminalization legislation get hearings, Dickerson said.

Even with the focus on the 2010 budget, there was still time to discuss some of the legislators' upcoming projects.

Carlyle is working on access and affordability for the state's higher education institutions, whose funding has been slashed.

"It's not OK that you can have somebody graduate from Ballard High School with a 3.6 (grade point average) and not get into the University of Washington," he said.

He is also hoping to secure a portion of the $4.3 billion available nationwide for kindergarten through 12th-grade education.

Carlyle said the legislature has a unique opportunity with a new Seattle mayor and new King County executive to have better and deeper conversations about quality of life in the city, and they need to take advantage of it.

Aside from her marijuana legalization bill, Dickerson is working on a safe baby bottle bill and streamlining and reconstituting the state's services for disabled adults who are unable to work.