Legislative news:

►  In today's (Everett) Jerald -- Democrats on the clock as House passes its budget plan -- On a 52-45 vote cast at 1:19 a.m., the House approved raising $690 million by ending exemptions, taxing candy and bottled water, levying an excise tax on airplanes, hiking the business tax paid by lawyers and other professionals, and tacking another $1 on each pack of cigarettes. The vote sets the stage for potentially rough and tumble talks with their colleagues in the Senate -- a conversation that could push the Legislature into a special session.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Tax-package deal could extend legislative session, lawmakers say -- Some key lawmakers say a special session is increasingly likely. A controversial Senate proposal to increase the state sales tax may be losing traction. Talks on scrapping the sales tax -- and what to replace it with -- could be crucial in the session's final days.

►  At TheOlympian.com -- Budgets put more money into worker health care -- Legislators are negotiating how much to help with state employees' health costs. It's $27 more a month in state contributions in the Senate plan, and $95 more in a House plan. WFSE's Greg Devereux said the typical state employee saw health costs go up $1,100 this year, and the House plan avoids another $1,100 hit next year. By contrast, he said, the Senate would cause workers' out-of-pocket costs to soar from about $250 per person to $3,000. (Read more at www.wfse.org.)

►  At WFSE.org -- RHC wipeout bill moves to Senate floor -- In order to authorize the closure of Bremerton's Frances Haddon Morgan Center, SB 6182 has been resurrected. This bad bill would wipe out the statutory authority for all residential habilitation centers. (Learn more.)

►  At Olympia Newswire -- Basic Health Plan squeaking by -- maybe -- Unless a drastic cut is proposed at the last minute to resolve the differences between the House and Senate, the BHP looks like it’s going to make it intact -- at least until the end of next year’s session.

►  In today's News Tribune -- Transit gets no help from Legislature -- House Democrats mounted a last-minute effort to temporarily give struggling transit agencies the ability to levy a $20 fee on vehicles, a power that counties and cities have now. But it stalled Monday after pushback from the Senate. 

►  From AP -- Plan for transportation jobs -- The state House has its version of an updated state transportation budget that lawmakers say will create 3,000  jobs. The $8.5 billion plan passed on a 78-19 vote and now goes back to the Senate, which passed its own version last month. 

►  At SeattlkePI.com -- The final word? Lawmakers pass 520 bridge bill -- State lawmakers approve a bill that allows work to proceed on a replacement for the Lake Washington span but doesn't address the concerns of city interest groups about transit and design issues.

►  In today's Columbia Basin Herald -- Grant County is borrowing money -- “It’s just based on the national economy,” says Treasurer Darryl Pheasant. “We experienced the same things that everyone else did, so it’s not anything particular to Grant County.”

(Republicans keep blaming state budget woes entirely on Democrats' spending. This story reminds us that every level of government is suffering, including Republican-run states, counties and municipalities. Grant County Republicans didn't spend this way into this mess, did they?)

Local news:

►  In today's (Everett) Herald -- State job picture brightens -- The number of available jobs fell 2% between the spring of 2009 and the following fall and economists say that's good news.  The job market may have a slightly brighter future than anticipated, says a new state report.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Suit over UW wage freeze dismissed -- The university has prevailed in a legal dispute over faculty pay raises. A King County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming the UW breached its contract last year when it suspended annual 2% faculty raises.

►  At Publicola -- Liu bows out -- Eric Liu, a well-known writer, former RealNetworks executive and Bill Clinton adviser who had planned to challenge state Sen. Adam Kline, has reportedly pulled out of the race last night in front of a “stunned” meeting of the 37th District Democrats.

National news:

►  In today's LA Times -- Chamber of Commerce group ready to wield political clout -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots political operation that has begun to rival those of the major political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised from corporations and wealthy individuals. The Chamber has signed up some 6 million individuals who are not members and has begun asking them to help with lobbying and, soon, with GOTV efforts in upcoming congressional campaigns.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Immigrant rights groups slam Obama, Democrats for slow action -- Nearly a dozen groups excoriated the president and congressional Democrats, accusing them of moving too slowly to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants and citing a record number of deportations in 2009.

►  At Salon.com -- Can Democrats get immigration reform right? -- Whether Democrats want to take on such a contentious issue in the aftermath of the health care debate remains to be seen. What is needed is not another rush to produce ill-considered legislation on an artificial deadline, but the emergence of a consensus on the principles of sound reform.

►  From AP -- Senate to take up unemployment insurance extension -- Legislation extending UI for the long-term jobless faces a key test vote in the Senate, its momentum helped by about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of last year.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Are unemployment benefits no longer temporary? -- Millions have been forced to rely on unemployment payments for extended periods as the nation struggles through its longest period of high joblessness in a generation. Critics are taking aim, saying the program to temporarily help laid-off workers has turning into an expensive entitlement.

►  In today's NY Times -- Public pensions are adding risk to raise returns -- Companies are quietly and gradually moving their pension funds out of stocks. They want to reduce their investment risk and are buying more long-term bonds. But states and other bodies of government are seeking higher returns for their pension funds, to make up for ground lost in the last couple of years and to pay all the benefits promised to present and future retirees. Higher returns come with more risk.

►  In Industry Week -- Under Obama, labor agencies beefing up budgets. enforcement -- OSHA's new chief: "OSHA is returning to the original intent of the OSH Act. We're a regulatory and enforcement agency and we're going to act like it."

►  In today's LA Times -- Kroger profit falls 27%; margins shrink -- Profit fell at the nation's largest grocery chain (operator of Fred Meyer) as competition for recession-strapped consumers intensifies, driving down prices and drawing bargain-hunters to warehouse chains like Costco.

►  In today's NY Times -- Unions rally to build towers at ground zero -- The city’s construction unions plan a lunchtime rally at ground zero today in an effort to break the deadlock between the Port Authority and the developer over building speculative office space on the 16-acre site.