AUGUSTA – With two days left before the Legislature is scheduled to end its session, some of the most anticipated bills have yet to see final action. The fate of the controversial school and jail consolidation bills, toxic chemicals in toys and Dirigo health care bills remain in the balance.

House Majority spokesman Travis Kennedy said it is not surprising that some of the more contentious pieces of legislation have been left to the very end.

“There is always this huge push,” Kennedy said. “You’ll see (Tuesday) as a very long day.”

Kennedy estimates there may be more than 100 bills left for final votes, including a couple that have been around all session.

“We’ve been working on this Dirigo bill for the past couple of months, and we’ve had Rep. Pingree’s toxic chemicals in toys bill since literally the beginning,” he said. “A lot of this is just the nature of the beast. The most major legislation requires the most legwork.”

Kennedy said in this session, the school consolidation legislation has slowed things down as well as the extensive overhaul of the state budget.

One school consolidation bill, LD 1932, was first submitted in November 2007. After undergoing many rounds of debate and 18 amendments, the bill was finally passed by the Legislature only to be vetoed by Gov. John Baldacci last week. A new bill was filed as a replacement last Wednesday, reflecting the original intent of LD 1932.

Dirigo health care legislation has also dominated the session, but Kennedy said that’s to be expected.

“Since we’ve had the Dirigo program, there’s been some sort of Dirigo-related bill in the last two days (of the session) going back five years,” he said. “The most contentious and the biggest changes are typically always held until the end. Last year we were running the tax reform proposal in the final hours of the session.”

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, agreed that the major bills of a session are always there until the end.

“The most controversial issues usually get put off to the end of the session, just because people are looking for solutions to them, hoping there will be solutions,” Rotundo said. “This is typical.”

Rotundo, chairwoman on the Appropriations Committee, said what’s not typical is spending virtually no money at the end of session.

“If there is anything left over, even small amounts, people usually want to spend it,” she said. “But we are not doing that in Appropriations this year. Having just been through a very tough budget process, the last thing we want to do now is start funding new programs or fund things that aren’t perhaps as important as the things that got cut.”

This time of year is challenging for the committee because of the way the Legislature operates, Rotundo said.

“One of the things that is difficult for us at this point, is that there are bills that are still being debated that are going to end up on our table,” she said. “So we’re kind of blocked up.”

House Majority spokesman Kennedy said he’s heard some talk of extending the session by a couple of days.

“It’s still entirely possible that we could be done Wednesday night, but there are some major issues that, depending on how much time they take on the floor, could stall us out,” he said.

Rotundo said she’s hopeful that the Legislature will adjourn Wednesday as scheduled.

“You have to live with much hope around here,” she said.