A measure that would allow the extension of of taxes now being used to pay off the late Kingdome, Qwest Field and Safeco Field – with the money going to fund an expansion of the convention center in Seattle and to support arts and culture – moved out of a state Senate panel on Thursday.

House Bill 1997 was referred – without recommendation – by the Economic Development committee to the Ways & Means committee.

It is sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, and has the strong backing of King County Executive Dow Constantine, the labor unions and most business and arts group. Opponents say the Legislature promised voters in 1995 that any levies used to pay for Safeco would go away when the new field was paid for. They feel that promise should be kept. Safeco Field should be paid off this year; the Kingdome and Qwest Field will be debt free later this decade.

The measure, which would raise hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming decades, would allow King County to extend car rental taxes, a 0.5 percent restaurant and bar tax and a 2 percent hotel/motel tax. Monies collected would be used to expand the Washington State Convention Center, fund arts and culture programs and build housing for service and hotel workers. The bill specifically prohibits any of the tax money from being used “for acquiring or constructing a stadium used by a professional sports franchise.”

Orwall says her legislation would create 4,5000 new construction jobs, 3,000 new, permanent jobs, create more than $1 billion in economic activity and lure 130,000 in additional visitors each year. However critics have said spending tax money to expand the Seattle convention center makes no sense, considering that demand for the center’s services has been declining. In the 2009 fiscal year, the center hosted 474 events; the year before that number was 671, according to figures from the convention center. In 2009, nearly 431,000 people attended events at the Seattle facility; in 2008 more than 482,000 people went to shows there.