Washington Legislature Heads Into Overtime

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- State lawmakers are back in town to start an overtime session needed to balance a $2.8 billion budget deficit.
Gov. Chris Gregoire wants the special session that began at noon Monday to last for a week. Lawmakers can stay for a month if needed, but Democratic leaders say they're close to an agreement on patching the state budget.
They plan to cut spending, raise taxes, and use one-time fixes, including federal bailouts. But the details weren't settled by Thursday, which was the last day allowed for the regular 60-day session.
Special sessions are estimated to cost taxpayers at least $18,000 a day. A lot of that cost comes from the legislators' $90-per-day expense allowance.