MONTPELIER ? Lawmakers return to the Statehouse on Tuesday for the second half of a biennium that promises to be dominated by the issue that nearly swallowed the first: health care.

What began as an election-year mandate for real change could end up as another incremental step in the state's 70-year quest for a reformed health care system.

With both the Democratic majority in the General Assembly and Republican Gov. James Douglas stressing the importance of passing legislation over taking the time to fundamentally change the way Vermonters pay for and receive health care, a quick compromise could dash any promise of real reform.

And health care will likely overshadow action on other issues, from affordable energy to the future of nuclear power to proposals designed to crack down on criminals.

The biggest distraction to the legislative agenda is, as always, politics. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, D-Windsor, will have at least one eye on his race to succeed Bernie Sanders as Vermont's lone representative in Congress.

But Welch and House Speaker Gaye Symington have insisted that they would be focused on the business of the session, and they promised to pay attention to health care and other issues before adjournment.

Despite a host of other problems facing the state ? a challenging budget, crumbling roads and bridges and overcrowded prisons ? it was health care that dominated political discussion at the Statehouse.

"I don't think it will suck all of the oxygen out of the room," Welch told reporters late last month. "Is it important and is it a priority? Absolutely. But we have other items on our agenda."

The governor is expected to outline his own agenda later this week. While Jason Gibbs, the governor's spokesman, declines to offer specifics, it is widely believed that Douglas will push his insurance-based health care approach further, suggest changes to the state's income tax structure and propose ways to make the education property tax less onerous.

Last year lawmakers concluded negotiations with Entergy, the owner of Vermont Yankee the state's sole nuclear power plant, over the storage of spent fuel, but they still face the challenge of determining where two-thirds of Vermont's energy will come from during the next decade. Important contracts, representing the bulk of the state's electricity production, with Entergy Nuclear and Hydro Quebec expire early in 2010.

In anticipation, the state's electric utilities are expected to continue their push for higher rates. Green Mountain Power Corp., for example, the state's second largest utility, will ask for a 13 percent boost next year.

In the foreground of this debate over Vermont's energy future is the cost of electric and fuel rates this winter season, which will hit low-income residents particularly hard. Vermonters pay some of the highest energy costs in the country. Utilities and fuel dealers have begun discussions about how to address the encroaching affordability gap, and some lawmakers have begun to pay attention.

Despite coming to terms with the federal government on a plan to prevent the state's Medicaid program from crumbling under a $600 million debt by 2010, the state will continue to grapple with the system, which serves a quarter of the state's people.

Lawmakers will watch carefully to see whether the "global commitment" plan delivers what Douglas and the federal government promise: a state-run health maintenance organization that will cut costs and increase flexibility without throwing thousands of Vermonters off the health insurance roles.

Observers say some lawmakers will be particularly interested in whether the whole program adds up. The plan was not fully vetted by the entire Legislature; it was reviewed only by the 10-member Joint Fiscal Committee.

The budget is the only must-pass bill of the session, and, as last year, it will contain a surplus almost entirely eaten up by the needs of state government. The governor will unveil his spending plan later this month, although details will most certainly emerge shortly after Douglas gives his annual State of the State speech on Thursday.

Early in the session, the House Judiciary Committee will likely work on Douglas' four-part anticrime measure, parts of which it has been studying during the off-session.

The governor's proposal includes a "civil commitment" measure, which he pushed unsuccessfully last year. It would allow the state to keep some violent offenders locked up under civil law after they have served their criminal sentences.

Some lawmakers have said the proposal is poorly designed, too expensive and essentially punishes people for future crimes. Other parts of the proposal may be more likely to inspire consensus such as an expansion of the state's Internet registry of sex offenders and an increase in the number of special sex crime police investigation units in Vermont.

The House and Senate transportation committees will try to find ways to raise $22 million to match new money the state has been promised by the federal government for paving roads and repairing bridges.

The new federal highway bill grants Vermont $61 million more in fiscal 2007 than it received in 2006. But to get that money, the state must contribute an additional $11.5 million from local sources.

The state transportation fund is also expected to run a $9.5 million deficit in 2007 because transportation revenues from sources such as the gasoline tax are declining.

Those two factors mean the state must raise $22 million more in fiscal 2007 than it did in 2006, or else give money back to the federal government, something transportation leaders and the governor have vowed not to do.

Douglas this week is expected to suggest raising $10 million in new motor-vehicle fees to cover some of the shortfall, while the rest ? about $12 million ? will come from other areas of state government that receive money from the transportation fund.

The state uses $68.2 million annually in gas taxes, vehicle purchase-and-use taxes and Department of Motor Vehicle fees to fund other areas of state government. Douglas' budget is expected to redirect some of this money back to transportation.

Including the federal money, the state this fiscal year will spend $342 million on transportation needs. Spending in 2007 is expected to increase to nearly $425 million.

Senate Democrats plan to fast-track a bill designed to allow local pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception to women without a prescription.

States cannot allow prescription drugs to be sold over the counter, but the Vermont House in May passed a bill letting pharmacists and physicians enter into a "collaborative agreement" so pharmacists can dispense emergency contraceptive drugs on their own.

The Senate ran out of time last year to consider the bill before adjourning. But Democrats said passing similar legislation will be among their first priorities when they return to Montpelier this week.

"We will take that up probably sooner rather than later," said Sen. James Leddy, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. "I will try to move that fairly quickly."

Meanwhile, another topic left over from last year may finally get its due. A bill attempting to put liability for genetically modified seeds on seed manufacturers passed the Senate and several House committees last year, including the Agriculture Committee. The bill, which did not pass the full House, is likely to be a major battleground on the first or second day of the session.

Recent strikes by teachers in Barre and Colchester have prompted some House Republicans to call for a statewide teacher contract, but Democrats who control the chamber believe placing all teachers under a single collective bargaining agreement would increase costs.

"The minimum additional cost would be $75 million," said Rep. George Cross, D-Winooski, chairman of the House Education Committee. "That would be needed to bring all of the teachers up to the average of the top five schools that have 100 teachers or more."

Instead of a statewide teacher contract, Cross and others say they plan to look into other ways to avert strikes, including making work stoppages illegal and imposing binding arbitration on school districts and teacher unions if collective bargaining reaches impasse.

"The issue is what can we do to ensure we don't have labor stoppages and people have good salaries for the good work that they do?" Cross said. "I don't know the answer. But I do think we can figure it out."

Making strikes illegal and imposing binding arbitration is something the union is willing to consider, said Angelo Dorta, president of the Vermont NEA.

This is cache, read story here