Still on the table: Domestic-partner rights, WASL changes, Puget Sound cleanup

OLYMPIA — House and Senate Democrats cleared their first big legislative deadline Wednesday with much of their agenda intact.

As the Legislature heads toward its final month of the session, the list of proposals still alive includes a bill to give workers up to five weeks of paid family leave, legislation extending new domestic-partner rights to gay and lesbian couples and a raft of bills that the Democrats say will improve the state's education and health-care systems.

While work on those bills continues, much of the attention now will turn to the state budget. Gov. Christine Gregoire has proposed increasing state spending by more than $4 billion in the next two years, to about $30 billion. House Democrats are expected to release their budget proposal next week.

Under legislative rules, bills that did not clear either the House or Senate by Wednesday evening are dead — though lawmakers sometimes suspend the deadline for high-priority bills.

It was unclear, for instance, whether two of this year's most controversial issues — tax proposals for financing a new Sonics arena in Renton and a NASCAR racetrack near Bremerton — would be revived in the final weeks of the session.

The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 22.

Here's the status of some major bills.

Education: Democrats, who control the House and the Senate, have an aggressive education agenda this session.

Bills still alive include those that would phase in all-day kindergarten in certain low-income districts (SB 5841), reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, create a pilot coaching program to help teachers in math and science (SB 5813) and give $5,000 bonuses to teachers who get a national board certification (SB 5955).

Another bill, HB 2327, would replace the math section of the 10th-grade WASL with multiple-choice, end-of-course exams in algebra and geometry, and one in biology to replace the science WASL. That bill passed the House.

Simple majority: The House has passed legislation that could make it easier for school districts to get property-tax levies approved by voters. The constitutional amendment, House Joint Resolution 4204, now goes to the Senate, where a similar measure died earlier this month.

It would allow school levies to be approved by a simple majority of voters instead of a 60 percent supermajority. The amendment would go before voters in November if approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses.

Released felons: The Senate passed bipartisan legislation aimed at helping convicted felons re-enter society once they're released from prison. SB 5070 would require each inmate to have a re-entry plan, including education, job training and other needs. It also would link ex-convicts with community services, coordinate tracking by the criminal-justice system and impose stiffer penalties for repeat violations of probation.

Rainy-day fund: The Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a constitutionally protected "rainy-day" state savings account. Under SB 5311, the state would set aside 1 percent of general-fund tax collections each year. The fund could be tapped only with a 60 percent vote of the Legislature — except during severe economic downturns or fiscal emergencies. The bill faces significant opposition in the House.

Health insurance: Lawmakers are still considering a dramatic insurance-market overhaul modeled loosely on similar efforts in other states. HB 1569 calls for setting up a new public-private health insurance partnership and requiring all companies with 50 or fewer employees to purchase their health care through the partnership.

Business lobbyists oppose the bill. They argue the state should study the idea further, as is called for in SB 5930, which passed the Senate unanimously.

Domestic partnerships: A domestic-partnership bill for gay and lesbian couples passed the Senate earlier this month and appears headed for final approval. SB 5336 is expected to easily pass the House, though it's not clear when it will come up for a vote. Gregoire has said she supports the measure.

The legislation would give gay and lesbian couples many of the same rights as married couples. Those rights also would be extended to unmarried heterosexuals in which at least one partner is 62 or older.

Union organizing: Labor lobbyists this week made a last-minute push in the House for a bill to bar companies from requiring employees to attend meetings about union-organizing efforts. But with business leaders calling the proposal unconstitutional, House leaders decided to let it die.

Climate change: Global warming has taken center stage among environmental issues in Olympia. The Senate passed a bill, SB 6001, that would set long-term goals to cut greenhouse gases and bar Washington power companies from relying on coal-fired power plants for new sources of electricity.

Meanwhile, the House passed HB 1303, a package of incentives to boost production of biofuels made from plants, clean up diesel school-bus emissions and make the state's fleet of vehicles more fuel-efficient.

Puget Sound: The House and Senate both passed bills that would create a governing board to spearhead cleanup of Puget Sound. But the bills (HB 1374 and SB 5372) are slightly different, so lawmakers will now begin work on a compromise. Gregoire's request for $220 million in the next two years to accelerate cleanup efforts remains up in the air.

Toxic flame retardants: The House passed HB 1024, which would phase out a potentially toxic class of flame retardants widely found in electronic equipment like televisions and computers.

Student-press rights: The House passed HB 1307, which would grant greater freedom to high-school and college journalists writing for school publications. The bill would prohibit administrators from altering school papers unless content is obscene, defamatory, an invasion of privacy or would disrupt school operations.

Sex education: School districts decide whether to teach sexual education, but under SB 5297 those that do would have to teach both abstinence and contraception. The bill passed the Senate.

Cellphone use in cars: Lawmakers have taken up several bills restricting the use of cellphones and other electronic devices while driving. The broadest measure, SB 5037, would make holding a phone to one's ear while driving illegal. The bill passed the Senate. Another bill, HB 1214, which passed the House, would outlaw text-messaging while driving.

Crane safety: The House unanimously approved HB 2171, which would require certification for cranes and operators in the wake of a crane collapse that killed a man and damaged buildings in Bellevue last fall.

Under the bill, crane operators could only work unsupervised if they pass practical and written exams and meet experience requirements to become certified. Cranes would have pass inspections at least annually.

Staff reporters Ralph Thomas, Andrew Garber, Elliot Wilson and Warren Cornwall contributed to this report. Material from The Associated Press is included.