LEWISTON — Steve Carlson came to the CareerCenter on Tuesday to check job listings and was surprised to find a career fair and U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.

He walked up to her and asked if his unemployment benefits would end Jan. 14.

At 10 a.m., she still sounded optimistic.

“We’ll see what happens,” when the House takes up the Senate’s proposed two-month extension of long-term unemployment benefits, Snowe said. “Anything you need, you call. In the meantime, we’ll get this bill done this week. We want to help you.”

Carlson, of Lewiston, lost his job in the mental health field a year ago. The state paid for training to become a pharmacy technician, but he said he’s had no luck in that job search.

“I’m here virtually every day,” Carlson told Snowe.

He said he took away some hope after talking to her, though word came later in the day that the benefit extension was killed in the House.

Unemployment benefits might end in three weeks for him.

CareerCenter Manager Mary LaFontaine said she expected as many as 300 job seekers talking to nine companies that attended the job fair.

“There are always connections made,” LaFontaine said. “There are some companies that will hire on the spot.”

Dan, a truck driver laid off in June who declined to give his last name, told Snowe that the career centers could use more funding.

“There was a kid the other day who has dyslexia and was trying to do a test on the computer,” Dan said later. “I had to stand there and read every question.”

He was happy to help, he said, but there should be enough staff for that.

[email protected]