Maine lawmakers didn’t finish their work by June 21, the scheduled end date for the current session.

They still haven’t.

The state’s 186 senators and representatives will return to the State House later this week to settle unfinished business – including votes on the final pieces of a two-year state budget and possible votes to override the governor’s vetoes. And each day of work will add another $44,000 to the bill for going into overtime.

Extending the session has impacts beyond the added costs to pay staff and keep the State House operating. Some lawmakers have jobs to return to. Others might be forced to delay vacation or travel plans. And if some officials are unable to return this week, it could affect close votes on bills or veto overrides.

Blowing past the scheduled end date is more common than not – it’s happened in all but one of the last five legislative sessions. Delaying action on the budget this long – into the new fiscal year – is less common.

“The end of the legislative session is always a hectic time, and this year is no different,” Mary-Erin Casale, spokeswoman for House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland, said in an email Friday. “There is always critical legislation to debate, last-minute amendments, and ongoing negotiations. Ultimately, the goal is to do the most good for the most people in the most responsible way – and that takes time.

“The legislature will soon reach their final adjournment confident they did their very best for Maine people.”

Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, said in an interview Friday that he’s not necessarily happy that the session has dragged on but he pointed to several factors. First, he said, there were 2,200 bills to consider, roughly 10 percent more than in a normal session. Several high-profile bills generated lengthy debate in both the House and Senate, from abortion access to solar energy subsidies.

“It’s not something I take lightly,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate for the taxpayers, but I think overall it’s part of a good government.”

As the session nears its end, there have been many days when either the House or Senate has worked well into the night, and in some cases into the early morning. And each time one chamber votes on a bill, legislative staff have to prepare documents for the next vote. And both the House and Senate vote twice on each bill before it lands on the governor’s desk.

But some Republican lawmakers have expressed frustration at the slow pace this year. Since Democrats control both chambers, they get to set the schedule and timing for when bills come up.

In remarks to State House reporters last week, Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart of Presque Isle criticized the House speaker for creating “a tremendous backlog of bills.”

“It’s been a pattern of behavior that everything that is not viewed as idyllic by her, I guess, has been parked over there and just tabled and tabled and tabled,” he said.

Jackson defended Ross.

“There’s no playbook for how you do this,” he said. “The House operates slower. They have a lot more members, and they want to talk. That’s the fault of both parties.”

Jackson addressed the delays during the closing moments of the Senate session last Tuesday. He explained that the biggest holdup was the budget, which only passed through the committee the day before.

Any time a bill is altered or amended, the revisor’s office has to make changes and print hundreds and hundreds of copies. The budget alone is hundreds of pages.

Jackson told his colleagues: “We’ll all be good and rested when I call us back in.”

While lawmakers have already voted on the vast majority of bills presented this session, there are some loose ends and big decisions still looming.

Legislators will vote on the final pieces of a state budget covering the two-year period that began Saturday. The delay in finalizing the budget will not affect the state’s continuing operations because the Legislature had already passed the first part of the budget which included enough funding to support ongoing operations. The part of the budget facing votes this week includes more than $800 million in additional spending, including money to launch a family and medical leave program.

The budget bill will need to win bipartisan support from two-thirds of each chamber to take effect immediately. If it passes with less than two-thirds support, the money won’t be available for 90 days.

And lawmakers are promising an attempt to override Mills’ veto of a widely supported bill that would extend more federal laws and benefits to Maine’s Indigenous tribes. Under existing laws, the tribes are subject to federal laws and programs only when they don’t interfere with state law or oversight. Overriding a veto also requires the support of two-thirds in the House and Senate.

Lawmakers could also take up some contentious bills that remain unresolved, including a proposal to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and another to set minimum nurse staffing ratios for the state’s hospitals.

Legislative leaders also must still review about 200 bills that are waiting on what is known as the appropriations table. These bills have already been approved by the House and Senate but will be competing for limited leftover funding. Many of those bills will either die on “the table” or be carried over to next year.

And the Senate must cast one more vote on a historic bill to expand abortion access to later in pregnancy. The House has already voted twice and the Senate’s final vote is a formality to send the bill to be signed by Gov. Janet Mills.

The target end date of any legislative session is always aspirational. There are dates outlined in the statute but there are mechanisms to extend, and they are often used. Sometimes lawmakers will take a break and then come back for a day or two to deal with any vetoes from the governor.

The so-called statutory end date for the current session was June 21, but the Legislature’s budget for session expenses does allow for two extra days. That covered the following Thursday and Friday. Anything after that costs the state extra to bring lawmakers back.

The $44,525-per-day estimate includes the $100 special session per diem that is provided to each member for their attendance at daily sessions, as well as legislator travel and related costs and payroll costs for session staff. The estimate does not include printing and other costs that vary depending on the number of bills, calendars, and amendments, according to Suzanne Gresser, executive director of the Maine Legislature.

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