The gloves are on . . .

The gloves are on in Olympia as the governor and legislators try to bring closure to this session. Passing the RttT legislation is seen by the governor as a must before she will allow the session to close. The problem identified in this Seattle Times article is that the house and senate have different ideas on what must be accomplished in the legislation. The senate wants to act only on the governor’s RttT proposal while the house has amended it (E2SSB 6696) to include support for continuing implementation of last year’s HB 2261 and fully funding schools. This is a very wide gap as evidenced by these words.

From the governor: "The one thing I do know we need to do before anyone goes home is reforms in the K-12 system," Gregoire said. "We're going to have to make that happen, not only for Race to the Top, but even more importantly to me, for the success of the children."

From a representative: On the House's efforts to combine the two issues — by amending the Race to the Top bill — Gregoire said she didn't want anything to stand in the way of her bill.
Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said the two education bills must be connected.
"Either both have to pass, or neither will pass," he said Tuesday.

From a senator: Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, said she strongly supports both bills, but believes they should be voted on separately.
The education finance bill is tied up in negotiations over the budget, but that shouldn't stop the House from approving the Race to the Top bill minus the amendment the Senate will not approve, McAuliffe said.

"They are two distinctly different bills, and they each need to stand on their own merit," she said.

Any predictions on how these differences will be resolved?