At the moment, there's still no deal between the House and Senate over whether to increase the state sales tax to help close a $2.8 billion budget shortfall.

Bottom line: After a flurry of negotiations over the weekend, the Senate still wants to increase the state sales tax, and the House does not.

The Senate released a new $800 million tax package on Monday and reduced its sales tax proposal to a temporary one-tenth of a cent increase, down from a two-tenths of a cent increase. The plan makes up the drop in the sales tax with a boost in taxes on beer, candy and gum. It also extends the sales tax to bottled water.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the Senate's lead negotiator on taxes, said the Senate proposal represents progress. "We think we're meeting them part-way," he said, noting that Monday's offer has the bare minimum of 25 votes needed to pass in the Senate.

"We haven't been able to find a way to get 25 votes without a piece of the sales tax in there," Murray said.

House Speaker Frank Chopp on Monday said the reverse remains true in the House. "We don't have the votes for a general sales tax. That's been the case since pretty much the beginning of the session when we did a vote count on the Senate proposal," Chopp said.

Chopp said he expects to send the Senate a counter offer that does not include a general sales tax increase.

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday also said she remains concerned about increasing the state sales tax and the Senate offer to drop it down to one tenth of a cent doesn't change her position.

"Mine has not been how much of a sales tax," Gregoire said. "My opposition has been to a sales tax."

Gregoire said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, told her she tried to find the votes for a tax package that did not include a sales tax, but fell short.

So, with nine days left in the special session which ends on April 13, the Legislature still appears stuck on the same issue that dragged them into overtime to begin with.