Washington Legislature set to convene 105-day session

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Lawmakers return to the Capitol for a 105-day legislative session, tasked with the final piece of an education funding puzzle they've spent years trying to solve.

The Legislature, which convenes at noon Monday, is working to comply with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling requiring them to fully fund the state's basic education system. Lawmakers have already put more than $2 billion toward the issue since the ruling, but the biggest piece remaining of the court order is figuring out how much the state must provide for teacher salaries. School districts currently pay a substantial chunk of those salaries with local property-tax levies.

The court has said that the state has until Sept. 1, 2018 to fully fund education, but that the details of how to do that — as well as how lawmakers will pay for it — must be in place before the Legislature adjourns this year.