Four and a half days of hurry-up-and-wait, one night of action.

That's how one could describe so far the special session of the state Legislature, which was called to fix the state's $650 million shortfall this fiscal year.

Very little happened at the session Wednesday on the floor of either chamber until about 8:30 p.m. Until then, any action that took place was behind closed doors — in party caucuses and in private meetings with legislative leaders and Gov. Bill Richardson.

In the late afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, announced that the Senate, which had only considered minor bills and resolutions up to that point, would be recessing — "hopefully for a very short time," he said — until a package of budget cuts and fund transfers were ready for consideration. More than four hours later, senators returned to consider those bills.

Shortly after 10 p.m., the Senate passed House Bill 3, which would transfer more than $100 million from various state funds into the general fund. Of this, $68 million was from the college affordability fund, an endowment fund that provides scholarships for those who can't afford college. Without the $68 million, the fund still has enough money to grant awards for 12 years, a report by the Legislative Finance Committee said.

The vote was 36-5. Because there was an amendment, the bill has to go back to the House.

Shortly after the Senate went back into session, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee began meeting to consider budget bills.

At one point Wednesday, Sanchez said the Senate might get out as soon as noon today. But nobody was taking any bets.

Since early this week, several lawmakers from both parties have expressed frustration. There was no serious intention or negotiation before we got here, so here we are," said House Minority Whip Keith Gardner, R-Roswell. "It's expensive, and I think it's a horrible misuse of our dollars and it's not by our choice."

It costs about $50,000 a day for the session. That tab includes $159 in per diem per lawmaker, an emergency medical technician who is on hand at the Capitol, state police, committee staff, office supplies and telephone operators, among other things. The state also pays for temporary computer support, accounting staff, the sergeants-at-arms and phone hookups for legislative offices.

The Senate on Wednesday morning passed the $370,000 feed bill, which pays those bills. That's enough for seven days, legislators said. If the Legislature ends before Friday, any leftover funds would revert back to the state.

So what have lawmakers accomplished? Or maybe, better put, what haven't they?

Here's a look at where key budget-balancing methods stand in this session.

Pork chopping: One way of raising money was taking money from capital improvement projects that never had gotten off the ground to help fill the budget hole. The Senate was considering legislation that would take about $70 million from funds allocated to some of those projects plus $136 million from money appropriated to other projects and fund them instead with bonds.

Some budget-balancing ideas that have been discussed were dead in the water. These were:

Tax increases: Various bills to raise taxes, roll back tax cuts and close certain loopholes have received a lot of discussion in this session, especially in the Senate. But it was clear from the beginning these were nonstarters. Richardson in his proclamation made it clear such measures shouldn't be considered. While several lawmakers questioned Richardson's authority to do that, there were not enough votes to challenge the governor on tax increases.

Reducing state employee salaries: Like tax-increase proposals, Richardson's proclamation outlining the topics lawmakers are to consider this session specifically said no salary cuts. There's been no serious attempt to challenge the governor on that.

Cutting exempt employees: This idea has provoked some rhetoric and several bills were introduced this week that would limit the number of political appointees and other exempt positions. Both Republicans and Democrats have signed onto these bills. But none have shown serious movement, and Richardson would almost certainly veto any of them.

Dumping double-dippers: This idea is dead in this session. Though some had talked about attempting to override Richardson's veto of a measure that would have prohibited the practice of state employees retiring and then returning to work, lawmakers now say they'll leave that fight until January.

Reporter Kate Nash contributed to this report