A technical bill implementing last year’s unfunded family leave bill is getting a hearing in the House tomorrow.

It’s hard to get excited about a technical bill that implements something that’s not even funded. (Last year’s family leave bill allows people to take leave to care for kids but still lacks about $40 million in funding.)

However, the new bill may be an opening for its sponsor, Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-36, Ballard, Queen Anne) to get some momentum for both finding real money and expanding the bill to include what it included last year before it was gutted: the right to take leave to care for spouses, adult children, parents, and domestic partners, as well as kids.

Says Dickerson: “There are preliminary discussions about funding and benefits, and it might apply to this session.”

Hardly a bold commitment, but it’ll be interesting to see if tomorrow’s minor discussion jump-starts efforts for a real family leave bill.