The long-expected ballot proposition for a November tax vote is on the move in the Washington Legislature.

The plan, sponsored by Representative Eric Pettigrew and four Democratic colleagues, is for a three-tenths of a percentage point increase in the state sales tax — from 6.5 percent to 6.8 — during the calendar years 2010, 2011 and 2012. The tax would expire then unless extended by supermajority votes in the Legislature.  A quick explainer is here. The tax bump would raise about $1.1 billion over the three years. It would be split 78 percent for health care and 22 percent for a tax rebate to the estimated 370,000 families who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The health care portion would restore cuts for the Basic Health Plan for the working poor, public health services, mental health, long-term care, nursing homes, and hospitals.

The outcome in Olympia and on the ballot is considered quite uncertain, given the tax climate and the recession. Between 4,000 and 5,000 anti-tax protesters marched on the Capitol this week. Governor Gregoire, who ran a no-new-taxes campaign last year, has warmed up to noncommittal, and says lawmakers are within their rights to at least consider new voter-approved revenue.

The debate is afoot.