Final countdown is on at the Indiana Statehouse

But what happens at the Statehouse this week in the hours before the final words, "sine die," are spoken is likely to be something of a choose-your-own-adventure mix of power, politics, pride, patience and, last but not least, public policy.

The two-year state budget, House Bill 1001, always is the dominant legislative concern in the waning hours of the four-month session.

A House-Senate conference committee, which counts state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, among its members, is working to trim about $200 million from the $31.5 billion spending plans previously approved by the Republican-controlled House and Senate due to a revised revenue forecast projecting slower growth in state tax collections.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the trimming won't affect the $466 million they both want in additional spending for elementary and high school education, which consumes 51 percent of all state spending.

Republican Gov. Mike Pence proposed only $200 million in new school money, with nearly all of it directed at charter schools and the state's private school voucher program at the expense of traditional public schools.

"We're not reducing any of the K-12 money. We're standing firm on that," Long said. "We'll find (the cuts), nicks here and there; it's doable."

Region lawmakers are keeping close watch that the $6 million a year included in the budget for the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to fund expanding the South Shore Line remains in the spending plan, along with a guarantee the money will continue for the next 30 years to help pay off the borrowing required to build the commuter rail line to Dyer.

Long said he believes South Shore expansion is a "game-changer" for Northwest Indiana and wants the state to support it.

Bosma generally has been less enthusiastic, and Pence wants to take that money, along with some $36 million more, and decide for himself which regional projects get funded.

Besides the budget, lawmakers must resolve differences between the House and Senate on dozens of other measures.

Among them, gaming legislation (House Bill 1540) that allows for land-based casinos but also contains provisions Pence may consider a forbidden "expansion" of gambling.

A variety of education issues are on the table including the size, membership, chairmanship and duties of the Indiana State Board of Education, which standardized test students will take in the future, a determination of how quickly failing schools can be taken over by the state, whether teachers deserve a tax credit for school supply purchases and potential new limits on teacher collective bargaining.

The Scott County HIV outbreak also has moved health care to center stage as lawmakers debate whether to make permanent the temporary needle exchange now operating in that southeast Indiana county under a Pence executive order, and to allow other counties at high risk for infectious disease to operate a needle exchange.

Then there are the last-minute surprises.

It's unlikely the Legislature will consider a fix to Lake County's 911 consolidation issues or wade back into the Griffith/Calumet Township spending battle, but anything is possible and under General Assembly rules anything can be added to the budget proposal.

Similarly, still-pending measures on abortion, alcohol, voting, property taxes, annexation and legislative ethics offer plenty of opportunities for mischief and controversy.

But the adventure only lasts until Wednesday when the Legislature, by law, must adjourn. For many at the Statehouse, that day can't come soon enough.

"It's been a long session, and we're all eager to wrap things up," Long said.