When legislators return to the Capitol today, they will face a jam-packed agenda that includes Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposals to help people without health insurance and develop alternative fuels.

With a new fiscal year less than two months away, the Legislature also must negotiate and pass a budget that is expected to be about $28 billion. The fiscal year begins July 1 and legislators start itching to take their traditional two-month break from Harrisburg.

But so far in Rendell’s five-plus years as governor, no budget has been finalized before the start of the fiscal year. And with a one-vote Democratic majority in the House, the budget could become an election-year issue should negotiations stretch into July again.