As legislators return to Bismarck on Monday, they begin a week that makes the state Capitol look a lot like a college campus during midterms - with cramming, late nights and plenty of stress.

Faced with a Friday deadline to have all of their bills acted on and sent to the opposite chamber, both the House and the Senate will be working overtime.

They have plenty to do.

At the end of last week, the House had 189 bills left to act on out of the 521 introduced since the session began in early January. The Senate has 136 bills left out of 417 introduced.

Rep. Rick Berg, a Fargo Republican who serves as House majority leader, said his chamber has been working at the same pace as it did during previous sessions.

In the 2005 session, the House had 180 bills to act on in the week before "crossover day," as Friday's deadline is called in Capitol parlance.

"My challenge is that we want to get our work done, but we also want to make sure everything receives proper debate and review before we act on it," Berg said.

He said the biggest things left to do this week are three appropriations bills that will set aside money.

The majority leaders in each chamber are traditionally in charge of deciding how long their chamber should work each day and what bills they will be working on.

Sen. Bob Stenehjem, a Bismarck Republican who serves as Senate majority leader, said he's expecting "a very busy week."

He said property tax relief and a major revision to the state's school funding formula are the biggest things the Senate has to get done this week.

"It's a lot to have, but we're pretty much on schedule," Stenehjem said.

In 2005, the Senate had 133 bills to pass in the week before crossover day.

Veterans like Sen. David O'Connell, D-Lansford, know this routine well.

O'Connell, who has been in the chamber since 1989 and now serves as minority leader, said he expects the week's workload to grow with each day as Friday's deadline creeps closer.

"I'm looking to be working into the evenings," O'Connell said.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)