With tensions high and stakes even higher, California legislators will end their three-week summer vacation and return to the Capitol today for the final, frenzied month of an annual session dominated by fiscal crisis, partisan fighting and the first gubernatorial recall in state history.

Gov. Gray Davis' fight to retain his office -- and Democratic Party control of the state's top job -- casts a shadow that dominates the Capitol.

Lawmakers say recall politics is bound to influence every major policy decision and spark pressure to push special-interest bills through the Legislature before the session ends Sept. 12.

"There is no doubt that every decision made, every piece of legislation that gets to the governor's desk, will be filtered through the recall," said Sen. Don Perata, D-Alameda. "That will be the screen that everything gets pulled through."

Volatile issues awaiting action by Davis or lawmakers include proposals to grant driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, provide gay couples with many of the rights and responsibilities of marriage, and replace recent increases in car registration fees with higher taxes on smokers and top wage earners.

"I think it's going to be like a roller coaster the last week, particularly the last day," Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, said of a session finale dominated by a gubernatorial recall that has captivated the nation. "But we've never been through something like this before -- so we really don't know."

Hundreds of bills remain in limbo, including proposals targeting unsolicited e-mail, soda pop in public schools, ephedra diet supplements, unwarranted development of American Indian cultural sites and shakedown lawsuits against small-business owners.

Other legislation would change the date of California's primary election, expand employers' health-care obligations and ban state agencies from contracting with companies that do not offer gay domestic partners the same benefits they give married employees.

"It's going to be chaos," said Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for Assembly Republicans. "The usual dysfunction we see this time of year, with hundreds of bills passing through the Legislature, will only be exacerbated."

Davis identified his personal legislative priorities Wednesday as financial privacy, workers' compensation insurance and long-term budget stabilization. His Cabinet secretary, Daniel Zingale, said another goal is passage of legislation ensuring continuity of care when a patient's health plan changes.

Vastly outnumbered by Democrats in both houses, Republicans fear that seemingly dead bills on other matters will spring to life, with little or no debate, in the final days or hours of the legislative session.

"There are a number of bills on the inactive file or that are being held in committee that we are going to keep an eye on," said Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, who chairs the Appropriations Committee through which spending bills must pass, said the recall's reverberations should not deter lawmakers from doing their job.

"I think we recognize that these are fairly volatile times politically," the Sacramento Democrat said. "But it's incumbent on us to focus, not let the fact of the recall carry us in ways we otherwise might not allow."

Steinberg has sparked one of the loudest partisan squabbles, however, by agreeing to carry legislation that Republicans claim epitomizes political game-playing to save Davis' job.

He's pushing a proposal that would kill a tripling of the state's car registration fee and replace lost revenue by increasing taxes on smokers and top wage earners.

Republicans say the move is meant to prevent a backlash by drivers who otherwise would see their car taxes skyrocket just one week before the Oct. 7 recall vote.

"The citizens of this state ought to be outraged by the arrogance of power by Davis Democrats," said Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks. "The budget ink is not even dry, and they're already talking about a bait and switch."

Democrats counter that increasing the car tax was a last resort after Republicans blocked other options to ease a record $38 billion state budget deficit. Now that the new car tax revenues are authorized, Democrats say, they can be swapped for different taxes with only a majority vote of the Legislature, requiring no Republican support -- because there would be no net increase in state revenues.

Steinberg said his goal -- to stabilize the state budget and assist local government -- has nothing to do with the Davis recall campaign.

He noted that Republicans, led by Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Simi Valley, a recall candidate, are pushing a ballot measure to repeal the car tax.

"If they succeed, local and state government could be hit to the tune of $4 billion -- that's money for police, fire, parks and library services. We ought not wait to let events jeopardize needed public services," Steinberg said.

Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said the Democratic-controlled Legislature won't "inflame the anti-tax mood of the electorate" in the coming weeks -- but non-spending measures catering to key groups are likely.

"I think (Davis) believes he needs to have hard-core Democrats show up," Cain said. "That may be his only chance, to get Democratic partisans excited and believing that he's their man. What he needs is a good turnout."

Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, called the recall a circus that special interests will try to exploit.

"I think you'll see a number of interest groups pushing hard to get bills on the governor's desk, on the theory that he may not be around after October 7 to deal with these issues," Frommer said.

But Kevin Gordon, executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials, predicted that legislators supporting Davis may discover that less is more.

"I would think the behavior of the Legislature is going to be akin to that of a surgeon: Do no harm," Gordon said of pending legislation. "If it's something controversial or would potentially worsen the consequences for the governor, I don't think (Davis) would want to go there."

The timing of the recall means that major legislation will land on Davis' desk at the same time he is campaigning, which gives him leverage to woo support from special interests with bills pending, critics say.

Davis, a prodigious fund-raiser, spent more than $70 million on his 2002 campaign.

Davis also could delay decisions on controversial bills that could hurt him in the recall election, critics say, because he has until Oct. 12 -- five days after the Oct. 7 recall election -- to sign or veto any legislation passed in the session's final 12 days.

Steve Maviglio, Davis' spokesman, said the governor plans to appeal to voters by working hard, not playing games.

"We're all in uncharted waters here, but the governor is going to continue being the governor and let the chips fall where they may," Maviglio said. "He's completely focused on his job. ... He'll give each bill the same scrutiny he has in the past, weighing each one carefully."