PROVIDENCE — The State House is taking a much-needed nap this week.

The chambers are dark and the committee rooms are empty.

But when lawmakers return from vacation next week for the final 10 weeks of the session there will be little rest. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday alone, the House is scheduled to vote on more than 100 bills –– everything from the gambling and immigration-related proposals that could define the 2008 session, to a quirkier bunch that includes pet adoption and polling hours.

The onslaught comes as Assembly committees bump up against the deadline by which they must vote on every bill before them –– the Senate’s cutoff date was last week and the House’s is next Thursday. Both are soft deadlines since House and Senate rules allow for introduction of new bills later in the session with permission from the leadership. Legislation before the House Finance Committee is also exempt.

But lawmakers see this as the first real hurdle in what will be a long race to the finish this June.

On the extensive list of bills that won approval in their respective committees last week and are now headed for a full House vote (and likely passage) here are a few of the lesser-known ones:

•Roll back the closing time for Rhode Island’s Election Day polls from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bill sponsor John Patrick Shanley Jr., D-South Kingstown, and others say the change would make election day less taxing for poll workers and local boards of canvassers while allowing Rhode Islanders to find out the results of elections at a more reasonable hour.

Nationally, Rhode Island is one of just two states –– the other being Iowa –– that keep polls open until 9 p.m. The polls here close a full hour later than in any other New England state. Shanley says cities and towns have difficulty recruiting poll workers, who are expected to arrive before the sun comes up and can’t leave until almost 10 p.m. By contrast, he says, the number of people who cast ballots in the final hour between 8 and 9 p.m. is not enough to justify the late closures.

•Better regulate cat adoption and purchasing: A proposed change to the state’s cat-permitting rules would require pet stores to spay or neuter cats before putting them up for sale or adoption, and to issue a certificate verifying the procedure.

•Create an electronic medical records task force: A proposed 23-member special legislative commission would study the use of computerized records throughout the state with the goal of getting more doctors to switch from paper charts and improving the sharing capabilities of electronic files.

Of the dozens of health-care related bills introduced this session, this is one of only a handful that is headed for a full House vote.

•Authorize the sale of sacramental wine: Despite Rhode Island’s status as the most Catholic of all states, religious supply stores here are not currently allowed to sell the wine and liquor stores generally choose not to because demand is low.

Reprising his legislation that passed the House last year but died in a Senate committee, Shanley proposes creating a new class of liquor license specifically for sacramental wine, for a fee of $50 instead of the $200 it costs for a full-fledged license. Religious supply stores would be allowed to sell the product only to ordained clergy or religious organizations, eliminating the need for out-of-state purchases.

Senate bills headed for a floor vote this month include:

•Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders. This proposal would restore judicial discretion in the sentencing for some drug-related crimes. The Assembly passed this measure last session, but the governor vetoed the bill and the Assembly declined to override his veto during a special session.

•Establish medical marijuana dispensaries where patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program could safely and legally purchase the drug: The bill easily won passage in a Senate committee, but an identical bill on the House side has faltered. House sponsor Thomas C. Slater says he would be satisfied to at least see the Assembly convene a study commission on the topic.

•Permit the spouse or parent of an active-duty military service person to obtain leave from work: This proposal would allow such family members to take up to 15 days of unpaid leave provided they work for an organization with more than 15 employees (up to 30 days for organizations with more than 50 employees) and have exhausted their accrued vacation and personal time.

cneedham@projo.com