The big five

Education

Gov. Chris Gregoire is backing a broad slate of changes: phasing in all-day kindergarten, expanding pre-kindergarten learning programs, adding thousands more college students, increasing teacher pay and shrinking class sizes.

Where things stand: Among last week’s dead bills was one to do away with the high-school graduation requirement that students pass the reading and writing parts of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. A reprieve from having to pass the math section, however, is highly likely.

Health care

Lawmakers are considering adding 32,000 children to state-paid health coverage, spending $26 million over the next two years to increase childhood vaccinations, and an array of other reforms to make health care more affordable.

Where things stand: On the insurance front, a bipartisan group of House members is trying to set up a system to pool employees of small companies and low-income people, who would be offered a range of several health insurance plans to pick from.

The economy

From making health care cheaper to a “holiday” for some workers’ compensation costs, lawmakers and the governor say they want to help the cooling economy, particularly small business.

Where things stand: Lawmakers continue to wade through a long list of tax incentives and other bills designed to spur economic development, particularly in struggling rural areas. Unions and their allies are asking lawmakers to approve a family and medical leave program that would tax all workers 2 cents an hour – about $40 a year – so that the state could pay workers $250 a week for up to five weeks when they must temporarily stop working to deal with a serious illness or care for a sick family member.

Same-sex marriage

Proponents want it, or at least domestic partnerships that would include many of the legal rights of married people. Critics are countering with a call to write the state law banning gay marriage into the state constitution.

Where things stand: Gay marriage and a man-woman constitutional amendment both died last Wednesday with the first bill cutoff. The following day, the Senate – the key battleground for passage or failure of the domestic partnership – passed the bill after emotional debate. It’s expected to sail through the House.

Environment

Gov. Gregoire has proposed spending $200 million toward the $9 billion problem of cleaning up Puget Sound, among other proposals.

Where things stand: Among the less-noticed bills in this category are one to require the state to buy carbon credits from plants that use manure from dairies to generate electricity, one to set aside $6 million over three years to clean up derelict vessels from state waters, and spending $800,000 to try to inject oxygen into the underwater “dead zone” in Hood Canal. Senate Bill 5760 would help spur vehicle refueling stations for electricity, hydrogen or liquid natural gas.