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RALEIGH (AP)  - The General Assembly worked in fits and starts Thursday as lawmakers scrambled to adjourn by Friday, reaching agreements to help financially strapped homeowners and to protect children from sexual predators.

But several items still remained in flux late in the day, including the fate of an online ticket-scalping measure and how to handle a potential shortfall in the state employee health insurance plan.

House and Senate members moved in and out of floor sessions, seeking to move outstanding legislation sought by Gov. Mike Easley and advocacy groups.

In between, lawmakers held impromptu committee meetings on chamber floors or worked behind closed doors in attempts to reach compromises or push through some critical bills. Lobbyists also pigeonholed legislators to attempt to persuade them to their viewpoint.

"It's like an incredibly competitive sporting event," said Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Anson, during a break after a heated debate on a ticket-scalping exemption bill he was running. "You know the game is almost over and you've scored some points, but you know you need to score some more. And you just run out of time."

Others were worried about what significant last-minute changes might be pushed through before the final gavels fall, possibly by midday Friday.

"Any funny stuff, any ugly stuff, can and will happen," said a skeptical Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph. "I've got a feeling that you're going to see some things that nobody's heard about. ... I just think there's a better way of doing business."

The Legislature had sent at least a dozen bills to Easley's desk by midday, including one designed to create a home mortgage foreclosure prevention program backed by the governor.

The plan, designed to respond to the recent credit crisis and be a potential model for other states, would require borrowers of high-interest home loans to get at least 45 days' notice before a mortgage servicer could begin foreclosure proceedings.

That would give the state banking commissioner time to help work more favorable terms to help them remain in their homes.

It could be the "most important legislation that gets passed in the country this year," spokesman Seth Effron said.

The House and Senate each gave final approval to a compromise providing minimum 25-year prison terms for adults who commit rape and other sex crimes against children.

The Legislature also gave final approval to raise the minimum age of children that can be allowed alone in the back of a pickup truck from 12 to 16. Lawmakers also agreed to boost the criminal penalty for burning a cross or hanging a noose in a display aimed at intimidation.

Government reform groups were pleased after a provision was removed from a bill to clarify the state's landmark 2006 ethics law. They argued it would create a loophole in the gift ban for legislators to receive free food, drink and travel expenses on a company's dime when they attend meetings or conferences.

The House and Senate members were trying to work out an agreement before Friday to give Easley and future governors more authority to respond to the drought. And differences remained over a bill that would allow event tickets to be resold on the Internet for a profit above the current $3-per-ticket limit.

Negotiators also are working on whether to authorize a new kind of political committee that would be able to raise unlimited amounts of money for campaign activities that aren't coordinated with candidates. The measure would be in response to a federal appeals court ruling striking down $4,000 contribution limits to these committees, according to Kim Strach with the State Board of Elections.

The House voted Thursday to earmark $100 million from the state's flush rainy day reserve fund to help cover any potential shortfall in paying health insurance claims for state employees, retirees and their dependents.

The Senate may change the bill on Friday to raise $40 million through higher co-payments for doctor visits and some drug prescriptions, but the House isn't likely to go along, setting up the final fiscal showdown of the session.

"We know that we've got to fund a way to make up this deficit," said House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, but "we're not going to do it on the back of state employees."

The Senate was unlikely to agree on a compromise regarding a bill requiring school districts to approve anti-bullying policies that, among other things, would list sexual orientation as a characteristic susceptible to harassment. Christian conservatives have lobbied against the bill, saying it would advance special protections for gay citizens.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said lawmakers will take up any unresolved issues in January, when the next session of the Legislature convenes.

"The world won't end between now and then," Rand said. "I'll be ready to go."