BOSTON — The Massachusetts House and Senate bent their rules and worked 90 minutes past a midnight deadline, but they still fell a bit short of acting on all pending bills before ending their normal legislative sessions for the year.

Members overrode about $60 million in spending cuts but failed to act on another $20 million in vetoes made by Gov. Deval Patrick before they concluded business early Friday morning. They agreed to use state credit to help the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority avoid $2.3 million a month in new debt payments but did not act on a bill allowing same-day voter registration.

And while they approved a "green jobs" bill aimed at promoting environmentally responsible companies and products, members of the House and Senate did not get to legislation that would have required the divestment of any state funds from Iran.

Some matters can be handled in informal sessions during the remainder of this year, but many will have to wait for January, when the next legislative year begins.

"From energy reform and life sciences to strengthened civil rights and child protections, the House had an aggressive agenda this session and we delivered," House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said in statement listing the accomplishments of the two-year session.

Yet one outsider expressed alarm, particularly about the state's budget.

"The budgeting largely ignores the fiscal perils that are facing Massachusetts and every other state, and I think there's a sharp contrast between the approaches many other states are taking — which is preparing for the worst — and the very traditional approach Massachusetts is taking as it we were in normal economic times," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

This week, for example, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he was cutting more than 20,000 part-time state workers and instituting federal minimum wage payments for 200,000 others his state grapples over a $15 billion deficit in the 2009 budget. His administration estimated the changes would save $80 million a month.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick recently signed a $28.1 billion budget that Widmer estimates is up to $1 billion out of balance.

Widmer pointed to enhanced pension benefits for state retirees, which he said seem small at first blush, but would end up costing the state dearly in the long run.

The retirees had been receiving annual 3 percent cost of living increases on the first $12,000 of their pensions, capped at $360 annually. They now will receive the same COLA on the first $16,000 of the pension, giving them an annual raise of about $480.

"At a time when the rest of the country is pretty much retrenching, we're pushing our debt limits here," said Widmer, whose group largely represents business leaders.

The governor and the Legislature got higher marks from another public watchdog.

Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said that over the span of a two-year legislative session, "there were a lot of big-ticket items and a lot was accomplished."

Among them: a 10–year, $1 billion effort to bolster the state's life sciences sector.

One measure that fell prey to the session's end was a proposal to award the presidency to whomever receives the most votes nationally on Election Day.

Under the current Electoral College system, a candidate who does not win the popular vote can still attain the presidency by winning larger states that award more electoral votes, as George W. Bush did to prevail over Al Gore in 2000.

Wilmot pushed the measure on behalf of Common Cause and won initial approvals in both the House and Senate. Nonetheless, she was unable to muster a final procedural enactment vote in the Senate — something that can often be done by voice in a matter of seconds — despite lobbying late into the night for the better part of the final week.

"Any time you come that close, within a hair's-breadth of success and don't quite make it, it's disappointing," she said. "On the other hand, when you have three-quarters of the votes in both chambers and the support of the leaders, it's just a matter of time. We will get this next year."