This morning, we listed a group of six issues we're watching in these final few days of the legislative session in Olympia (session ends Sunday), including:

 3) Will the legislature side with big business or labor on the (now-pro-labor)  bill to expand unemployment insurance payments?;  ...

5) will Rep. Sharon Nelson’s (D-34, W. Seattle, Vashon) payday loan bill  die, now that the House refused to concur with the Senate’s watered-down version?  

Here's the update on those two (and some more breaking news for Olympia wonks below the jump)

The unemployment insurance bill to expand benefits (as the House wants ) or not (as the Senate wants) is going the Senate's way. Today, the Senate will vote against the House amendments expanding benefits and eligibility according to Jeff Reading, spokesperson for Senate Democratic leadership.

That means the House can either back off from their amendments and send a weak bill (according to labor) to the governor. Or the House can balk, and the bill will die.  

I've got a call in to Rep. Tami Green (D-28, Ft. Lewis)—the labor Democrat whose amendments (passed in a bold House coup by the guerrilla Blue/Green gang ) are now in jeopardy.

It's a different situation on on the pay day lending bill: Earlier in the session, the House passed a bill to regulate the pay day loan industry, but the Senate sent back a stripped-back, amended version. Last week, the House refused to concur—and kicked it back to the Senate—where this afternoon, the Senate will agree to strip out the hostile amendment.

Keep this in mind, the minute you report something in these frantic final days, it's not true 24 hours later.
 Case in point: Yesterday, I reported that the compromise to keep I-937 (the voter-approved renewable energy initiative) intact was good to go. But I just learned that the House isn't ready to agree on the deal.

"All hell is breaking lose in the Tacoma caucus," says environmental lobbyist Cliff Traisman. 

The representatives from Tacoma are balking at the deal because Tacoma's utility, Tacoma Power, wants in on the deal that gives some utilities an out when it comes to meeting the renewable energy goals. But the exempted utilities are small utilities. Allowing Tacoma Power to meet an alternative (lower) standard would tank I-937's mandates for hitting the overall target on renewable energy resources, supporters of I-937 say.

In a related issue: The governor's climate bill is on hold because the Senate can't reach agreement on a provision that calls on coal company Transalta to lower its emissions. Lefties think the provision is too weak. Conservatives think it's too strong. Moderates think it's just right.