They’re gone, but not forgotten.  Weary Washington lawmakers are getting a long weekend off, after wrapping up their 60-day regular legislative session Thursday evening.  But their toughest, and most politically unpopular, tasks remain undone.  They’ll be back at noon on Monday for overtime session.

Governor Gregoire’s proclamation says they’ll be here “no longer than seven days.”  The Constitution says special sessions are limited to “not more than 30 consecutive days.” Likewise, the governor has no authority to limit the subject matter lawmakers may take up, although she does have that veto pen and conceivably could nix anything that she viewed as outside the must-do list for the special session.

Here is language in our State Constitution about special sessions:

ARTICLE II SECTION 12 SESSIONS

(2) Special Legislative Sessions. Special legislative sessions may be convened for a period of not more than thirty consecutive days by proclamation of the governor pursuant to Article III, section 7 of this Constitution. Special legislative sessions may also be convened for a period of not more than thirty consecutive days by resolution of the legislature upon the affirmative vote in each house of two-thirds of the members elected or appointed thereto, which vote may be taken and resolution executed either while the legislature is in session or during any interim between sessions in accordance with such procedures as the legislature may provide by law or resolution.
The specification of purpose by the governor pursuant to Article III, section 7 of this Constitution shall be considered by the legislature but shall not be mandatory.

ARTICLE III SECTION 7 EXTRA LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.

The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the legislature by proclamation, in which shall be stated the purposes for which the legislature is convened.

So today’s civics lesson is that governors often try to limit the length and scope of special sessions, but the Constitution’s separation-of-power says that once the gov calls the session, it’s the Legislature’s prerogative how long it stays in session (up to 30 days at a pop) and what they take up.  (Bonus round: Can the Legislature call its own special sessions?  Answer: Yes, by a two-thirds vote of both houses, limited to the bills they list in their resolutions.  How many times has this happened?  Answer: Never.)

This Legislature still needs to complete its mandatory work of 2010 – to rebalance the state’s $31 billion budget, which is now about $2.8 billion out of whack. The two houses  generally agree that they’ll raise about $800 million in various taxes and find the other $2 billion in state spending cuts, federal help, use of the “rainy day” fund and by sweeping up any balances from vari0us earmarked pots of state money. But there’s no agreement yet on which taxes to raise, nor is the budget rewrite figured out. There are a handful of other big pieces of legislation, including the construction budget and bills aimed at producing jobs.

So how long? Staffers and leaders are talking about a week or two.