The Washington State Legislature is scheduled to end its regular session today. A few bills squeaked through the spineless Democratic house and even fewer through the Machiavellian GOP-controlled senate. Lawmakers are reconciling some of those bills in frantic meetings this afternoon. But will there be a special 30-day session, in which they reconvene to resurrect dead bills or take another stab at unfinished business, like recent years past?

"Never say never," says Senator Jamie Pedersen, who represents the 43rd district (central Seattle), "but I think it is very unlikely at this point there will be a special session. I don't see it happening."

Which is great news—because paying the legislature to convene, or even paying someone to keep the capitol building steps polished, is a waste of fucking money. They don't really do anything. And it costs about $10,000 a day for a special session.

Sure, the GOP-controlled senate approved a few bills this year that will help them polish their tarnished image. They passed a state DREAM Act, passed a bill that allows courts to seize guns from domestic abusers, and passed bill on sex-trafficking. It's better than nothing, but it's obviously just the Republicans trying to shore up their party's crumbling support with minorities and women by making some gestures. Meanwhile, the legislature ducked the important shit—no additional funding for education, despite the state supreme court's now-dusty McCleary ruling that the state must provide billions more for basic education. There's no transportation package and certainly no headway on transit funding for the urban corridor of Western Washington, the liberal economic engine that powers the rest of this broke-ass jalopy Republican state.

Lacking progress on transportation or education, Senator Pedersen says lawmakers "want to get out and campaign" for reelection this fall. "Until voters help us resolve the issue"—i.e., reclaim a Democratic majority in the senate so more bills pass—"I don't see us making any progress."

After standing around collecting their paychecks, conservative lawmakers in Olympia are, ironically, the welfare queens who leech on the taxpayer dime each session while doing virtually nothing. And Democrats have fecklessly squandered their chance this year to establish a clear agenda that would, you know, drive liberals to the polls and retake the senate in fall. So go home, legislature.