Washington State House, Senate ready to adjourn... but not quite done yet?

Sine Die time. Almost.

The House of Representatives and the Senate have pretty much wrapped up the 2009 legislative session in Olympia. Bills that didn't make it out of the statehouse are now dead, although technically, they aren't really dead, because an unsuccessful bill may be revived during the next session.

UPDATED, AS OF 12:30 AM APRIL 27TH: According to Senator Chris Marr, who says he just got word, there's going to be a special session.

Some of the unfinished business concerns the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge replacement, NPI understands. So all of you who were betting the Legislature would finish on time have apparently lost your bets.

ALSO, AS OF 12:30 AM: The Governor has issued a statement suggesting she's calling a special session. There's speculation around the statehouse it would be probably be later this week, as opposed to tomorrow. Maybe that's so agreements can be worked out on the unfinished business.

UPDATE II, 1:00 AM: The 2009 regular session is adjourned. Sine Die. Exhausted and weary legislators are milling around the legislative chambers.

One of the bills that got sent back to the Senate Rules Committee before 12:00 AM when the Senate floor was cleared by resolution is SB 6116, which would have authorized "the extension of local taxes for the arts, affordable housing, KeyArena renovations and other community projects".

Cosponsors Ed Murray and Jeanne Kohl-Welles released a statement shortly after midnight regarding the bill's failure. Here's what they had to say:

Widely misperceived as ‘the Stadium Bill,’ SB 6116 would have authorized King County to provide support to a variety of programs that would benefit our communities, such as low-income housing, arts, heritage and cultural programs, and tourism promotion. These funds could have helped programs throughout King County.

In addition, this bill would have authorized the continuation of two existing taxes that are currently in place which could have helped in renovating KeyArena. These include the restaurant and car rental taxes that are raised only within the City of Seattle.

SB 6116 would have met the terms of the agreement set last year between the City of Seattle and the Oklahoma Ownership group that took the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

We are very disappointed that we were not able to move forward legislation that would force Clay Bennett to pay the $30 million in 2013 as put forth in the settlement agreement. We offered several amendments that met the qualifications of the terms but were unable to get the necessary number of votes to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote.

It is unfortunate that confusion about the purpose of a pre-existing tax killed a bill that would have strengthened our community.

The Legislature has granted authorization for use of local sales tax for such purposes to jurisdictions across our state, but the political will did not exist to grant it for Seattle and King County.

If the Legislature goes into a special session sometime during this year, we will continue conversations around SB 6116. We will work with the opponents of this bill and try to reach an agreement.

The Legislature's failure to send a revenue package to voters that would have staunched the bleeding created by its irresponsible budget is pretty disappointing. That blown opportunity is undoubtedly what'll remember the most about this unpleasant session, which would well be described as lackluster.