Special Session? We Should Know Today

Little came easy this legislative session. And that goes for discussions about whether to extend it to handle unfinished business. You'll remember that shortly after the clock ran out on the session, Gov. Gregoire said she'd call lawmakers back for a one-day session. (The link is to Adam Wilson's story in the Olympian.)

Details, like what were the must-dos and when must they be done, remained to be worked out. As time passed, urgency waned. Wilson reports that Tuesday the governor told Democratic leaders, "time's up." A decision needed to be made this week. The AP's Rachel La Corte summarizes the issues in a story the Everett Herald headlines "Gregoire may cancel special session." (Can you cancel something that's never been scheduled? Can you lose a friend you never had?) Briefly:

The three bills that have been discussed by the governor for a special session are:

• A plan to reduce state spending on a program that benefits "property-poor" schools, saving about $60 million, while allowing school districts to collect more money from property tax levies. That bill is seen as the biggest priority.

• A measure to clear the way for illegal immigrants in state prisons to be deported, saving the state more than $8 million.

• A criminal sentencing bill that expands the low and high end of the sentencing range, allowing more discretion for judges when sentencing offenders. This bill could save the state nearly $376,000 through 2011 because it is expected that sentences will be reduced.

But, she notes,

... House leaders have been lukewarm about rushing back to Olympia.

House Majority Leader is quoted as thinking September might be better, when legislators have to return to Olympia anyway.

Republicans, who seem to have little influence on the governor's decision, have been clear from the beginning that there's no hurry. That's particularly true for Sen. Joe Zarelli, who headlines his latest Budget Tid Bit "no special session to pass bad public policy." He's particularly opposed to the levy equalization measure. He desxribes

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1776 [as]a "reverse Robin Hood bill" that would adversely impact the majority of school districts in the state while benefitting a select minority.

Disagreement on the bill tied up lawmakers in the waning hours of the session.

In addition to the aforementioned issues, swine flu could emerge as a special session topic, at least a reason to bump public health funding.

It's always a bad idea to make predictions just before decisions are likely to be announced. But here goes: I doubt they'll be back soon.