COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's the holiday season rush - and not just in stores.

Lawmakers trying to finish up the work of the 124th General Assembly so they can adjourn - and go home - for the year have introduced, debated and passed a flurry of bills in the month since the Nov. 5 election.

In the waning days of the legislative session, work has centered on some of the most contentious bills lawmakers have dealt with over the past two years.

The bills have moved too quickly for some.

Citizens advocates worry that sending legislation through the appropriate channels at breakneck speed cuts the public out of the process, opens the door for sloppy legislation that doesn't pass constitutional muster and invites corruption from politicians looking to sneak unattractive measures into bills.

"It's bad policy to shove things right through," said Catherine Turcer, a policy analyst with Ohio Citizen Action, a public advocacy group.

"We have what's called a full-time legislature and if, in fact, that's true, it makes sense to spend that time - all year - on legislation, instead of just a few weeks."

Leaders in the Republican-controlled House and Senate have put pressure on their caucuses to pass priority bills before the session ends. Otherwise, the bills would have to be reintroduced in the next session.

Over the past month:

_Both chambers passed a controversial bill increasing the number of charter schools allowed in Ohio.

_The House and Senate approved vastly different versions of a bill capping jury awards for patients in medical malpractice cases, and then compromised the two versions within hours.

_The state's two-year construction budget went through committee hearings and was passed by the House within 24 hours of being introduced. The Senate is expected to approve it this week.

_The Senate added amendments to a House-approved bill that would have allowed qualified Ohioans to carry concealed weapons. However, House leaders refused to agree with the changes.

_A measure in mid-November that would have placed electronic slot machines at Ohio racetracks prompted much debate and a vow of a veto from Gov. Bob Taft.

While Republicans hammered out compromises on most of the bills in lengthy closed-door caucus meetings, Democrats complained publicly about the speed at which bills were moving.

House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican from Glenford, said he doesn't see a danger with passing a lot bills quickly at the end of the legislative session.

"Most of this legislation doesn't take effect immediately. I guess if we find out there's some problem we'll be able to fix it pretty quickly in January," Householder said.

Why risk it, said Rep. Ed Jerse, a Democrat from Euclid who sat on the House-Senate medical malpractice committee.

Jerse said Republicans who were in a hurry to pass a bill this session didn't take time to ensure the measure was constitutionally sound. He said he expects the Supreme Court will again find the bill unconstitutional.

"What we are doing is a rushed effort that will hurt individuals in Ohio and not do what it's intended to do," Jerse said. "We rushed a bill that has constitutional flaws in it."

Sen. Michael Shoemaker, a Democrat from Bourneville who was on the education committee considering the charter schools bill, said the tight timetable meant the public didn't have a chance to voice their opinions on last-minute changes to the bill.

"I don't think you had fair input from the education community," he said. "What's the harm in waiting until next session to pass this?"

Shoemaker said a legislative report on charter schools is due next year and that lawmakers should have waited until its findings were released before approving a bill overhauling the system.

Perhaps the most worrisome part of so many bills being pushed through is that lawmakers could slip in provisions without the public's knowledge, Turcer said.

She said that happened this year when Sen. Jeff Jacobson added to a bill an amendment eliminating the requirement that statewide and legislative candidates file campaign finance reports electronically beginning in January.

"It happened so quickly that it didn't even give people a chance to figure out what the bill said, let alone act on it," Turcer said.

However, Jacobson, a Republican from Phillipsburg, said the amendment was added to a bill about ballot issue language in an open committee meeting that had been publicized.

After talks with Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office, a House-Senate committee extended the deadline until March 1, 2004.