Gov. Mike Beebe's addition of a third item to the special session agenda won't stop a new lottery game. It could stall it.

The governor on Friday expanded the call for a special legislative session, which he had set earlier in the week to address health insurance for public school employees and prison beds.

The new item would delay until spring the Arkansas Lottery Commission's planned expansion to include a keno-style game. Beebe opposes the expansion and will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

An earlier proposal would have created an outright ban of keno-style games but some lawmakers want a full review in a regular session of the Legislature. Delaying implementation until spring would stop the games until that can be done in the 2015 session.

Lawmakers gathered in Little Rock on Monday for what was expected to be a three-day special session and had, by Tuesday, proceeded apace to approve all three measures with adjournment expected on Wednesday.

Both the insurance measure and the prison relief proposal have gotten fairly thorough review and are, essentially, repeating issues for the Legislature.

The lottery question is a different kettle of fish, basically a legislative interruption of the Lottery Commission's plans.

Some time back, the commission approved keno-style games and began steps toward implementation. Commissioners were reacting to pressure to increase lottery revenue and therefore shore up the state scholarship program.

This isn't another set of cardboard scratch-off games or expansion of the established national lotteries. It involves installation of video monitors at points of sale, which will display draws every few minutes for the keno-style games.

It is a step too far for some, including Beebe, who doesn't think voters intended such games when they created the state lottery in 2008.

Monitor-style games seem like something more appropriate for casinos than convenience stores, but some lawmakers want more time for a deeper discussion than the special session will allow. The bill before them now only delays implementation until the spring, when lawmakers could still vote to kill the program.

Both of the other issues, too, will likely be subject to review in the next regular session.

The health insurance plan for state public school employees has been troubled for some time now. The measure before the Legislature in the special session will make relatively minor changes, eliminating some employees from coverage and altering program offerings enough to avoid a big jump in premiums for those who will still be covered.

Cut from the roster will be part-time workers and spouses of public school employees who can get coverage through their own work.

No one expects this to be a long-term fix for the program, but it may be enough to hold the wolf at bay until lawmakers can try again.

State Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, who led a task force on the issue, said the special session action will buy another year to look at long-term solutions.

Among the possibilities is merging the public school and state employee insurance plans, but that will require equalizing coverage and pretty much guarantees controversy.

In the meantime, tens of thousands of school employees won't have to pay quite a much for health insurance as they would have without the special session.

The prison proposal the Legislature is enacting this week is another patch to that system, which has backed up prisoners into county jails to what sheriffs are calling crisis conditions.

The jails always expect to hold some state inmates but have in some cases been pushed beyond their capacity in recent months.

Lawmakers were working this week on a budget adjustment to allow more than $6 million in spending to open up 600 more prison beds.

That's far fewer than the estimated 2,700 state prisoners backed up in the county jails but would relieve some of the problem.

The state may have to look at building a new prison to make more long-term space available. Then they will be looking for a lot more money, the kind that comes from serious budget cuts elsewhere or, more likely, from tax hikes.

Meanwhile, be sure to ask the candidates for governor and the Legislature just where they'd look to fund longer-term fixes for prison overcrowding and for state insurance ills.

BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.