Bleary eyed Arizona lawmakers took final votes on a slew of bills late Thursday evening and early Friday morning as they wrapped up the Legislature’s annual regular session.

The often contentious session that lasted nearly six months ended as most do, with some laughs and somewhat delirious attempts to continue following procedure and to sine die, which came at 12:59 a.m. June 14, the 151st day of the session.

After casting final votes on the state’s $8.8 billion budget and one of Gov. Jan Brewer’s top priorities, Medicaid expansion Thursday afternoon, both chambers remained in session for several more hours to pass a host of bills that languished during Brewer’s moratorium on bill signings.

Lawmakers also approved another of Brewer’s priorities, an overhaul of the state’s sales tax system.

Rep. Eddie Farnsworth’s election reform measure, HB2305, which combined two of the most high-profile bills of the session, SB1003 and SB1261, sponsored by Sen. Michele Reagan, passed through both chambers in the final hours of the legislative session. HB2305 would make it a felony for a volunteer with an organization to pick up early ballots from voters and deliver them to elections officials. It would also drop people from the Permanent Early Voter List if they don’t use their early ballots for two consecutive federal election cycles and don’t respond to a letter asking if they would like to remain on the lists.

Sen. Kimberly Yee’s bill adding personal finance to the list of competency requirements needed to graduate high school was approved in the final hours of the session. Likewise, Senate Minority Leader Leah Landrum Taylor marshaled her bill to provide a $75 monthly stipend for grandparents or great-grandparent’s caring for foster children through the process before sine die.

All year, Medicaid expansion hung over the Capitol like a dark cloud, tearing the Republican caucuses in both chambers apart, straining the relationship between Republican legislative leadership and the governor, and offering Democrats a chance to become a serious part of legislative negotiations for the first time in years.

But at the end of the session, lawmakers from across the aisle – and from differing factions of the Republican Party – shook hands and congratulated each other on a battles well fought and a job well done.

“There was a lot of great legislation coming out of this session… I think you saw a lot of cooperation at the end of the day,” House Speaker Andy Tobin said after the session ended.

“I think there is relief on the part of everyone in both houses that the session is finally over. This was a session that, in my mind, was unlike any other,” Senate President Andy Biggs said in the session’s closing moments. “It was tough, and I think we’re all glad it’s over.”