OLYMPIA — State lawmakers have cast thousands of votes and sent more than 130 proposed new laws to the governor in the past three months. But lawmakers still face their toughest decisions in the final week of this year's session.

Topping the list for many are votes on a tax package projected to bring in around $480 million. Democrats, who control the House and Senate, say the money is needed to balance the budget.

Lawmakers in both parties also are bracing for a vote on a big increase in the gas tax. And Democrats in the Senate still hope to force votes on two of the session's most divisive issues: gay rights and stem-cell research.

Don't worry, if you miss something, you'll probably hear about it again. The votes that lawmakers face in the final days are the sort spotlighted in campaign fliers.

"Will there be a backlash?" said Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham. "I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if people support higher taxes and bigger government."

Next Sunday at midnight is the adjournment deadline for this year's 105-day session. House and Senate leaders are pushing to get done a day early — a rare feat in Olympia.

Democrats have tried to make their tax votes as painless as possible. The House and Senate both approved separate $26 billion, two-year state-government-spending plans earlier this month.

But to avoid having to vote more than once on the tax portions of those plans, the Democrats agreed to wait until Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire and budget leaders in the House and Senate strike a final agreement on the budget and taxes.

The Democrats also pushed through a bill to overhaul Initiative 601, which had required a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to raise taxes. The bill, which Gregoire is expected to sign today, allows tax increases with a simple majority.

Bottom line: The Democrats won't need any help from Republicans to pass their budgets.

"They chose to do this all on their own," said Senate Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland. "I guess it will all depend on whether they can hold their votes together."

Democrats are confident they can do that.

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler of Hoquiam

"It'll be a hard vote, but I think we're all prepared to do what needs to be done," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. "It just doesn't benefit us to belabor this."

Negotiators from the House and Senate are working out the differences between the competing budgets. Higher education is one of the biggest areas where the two sides need to reach agreement, Kessler said. The House budget has more money for colleges and universities and treats tuition differently than the Senate.

However, both Kessler and Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, said they see no serious obstacles to Democrats reaching an agreement on the budget and taxes.

9.5-cent gas-tax increase

Unlike on the operating budget, Democrats are counting on getting a lot of help from Republicans to pass a transportation budget.

"I think we're there," said House Transportation Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle. "It we get enough Republican votes, we'll have a transportation package."

On Saturday, Murray said an agreement had been reached to not exceed a gas-tax increase of 9.5 cents per gallon. If anything, the size of the tax package will get smaller, he said.

Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-Seattle, said that for him and many members of the Seattle delegation, passing a transportation budget has become tied to passing an operating budget.

"I don't want to do one without the other," he said. "Most of the Seattle delegation is insisting we do both."

Reviving gay rights

Murray is also working hard behind the scenes to revive his bill to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians.

House Bill 1515 passed the House earlier in the session. However it was sidetracked in the Senate when Republicans, with the two conservative Democrats, sent the bill to a committee where they hope it would die.

Democrats in both chambers say the bill isn't dead yet and could come back before the session ends. "I'm never giving up on that," said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

Senate Democrats are less optimistic that they will be able to force another vote on a highly controversial bill endorsing stem-cell research, including the use of human embryos. The legislation cleared the House, but Republicans joined with a few conservative Democrats to defeat the bill in the Senate.

$600 million school construction

Not all of next week's budget votes will be so painful. Lawmakers still have to vote on a new state construction budget.

House and Senate negotiators are close to agreement on a $3 billion, two-year plan that will pay for a record $600 million for school construction and at least $60 million for new buildings at the University of Washington.

It also includes about $35 million for local projects that lawmakers love claiming credit for — the pork.

For the past week, House Capital Budget Chairman Hans Dunshee has been wearing a pigs-at-the-trough tie clip. It's his way of fending off the relentless requests — "every 15 or 20 minutes" — from fellow lawmakers wanting to add one more project.

The House and Senate still have to work out some differences on other big issues.

Both sides passed landmark legislation requiring Washington to adopt California's tougher automobile-emission standards. The House and Senate versions are different, but sponsors are confident they can strike a compromise.

Likewise, both chambers passed slightly different versions of a bill to repeal the state's long-standing prohibition against Sunday liquor sales. But the measure is expected to pass.

A few other sticky issues could pop up in the final week, including a Democratic alternative to a pair of competing citizen initiatives aimed at curbing medical-malpractice costs.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com;

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com