AUGUSTA — As Congress gets back to work this week, a major question before lawmakers is whether to continue federal government spending at slightly higher than current levels for the next six months, or pass regular appropriations bills for the budget year. Members of Maine’s congressional delegation said they do not like the idea of putting off tough decisions until after the election.

“An agreement to essentially kick the can down the road and delay consideration of budget issues is irresponsible,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said. “It is not going to make the issues any easier to deal with.”

A member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins said the panel has completed work on 12 of the 13 appropriations bills and none have been brought to the floor for consideration. She said several were approved months ago.

“We have yet to have a single bill scheduled for the floor,” she said. “The agreement is really an indictment of the failure of Congress to act on the budget bills in a timely fashion. There is simply no excuse for Congress not getting its work done.”

The details of the agreement have not been released, which worries all of the delegation. The agreement does set agency spending for the budget year that starts Oct.1 at $1.047 trillion, the amount agreed to in last summer’s debt reduction deal. It is slightly above this year’s level of $1.043 trillion.

“Because we have failed to learn from the consequences of our serial abdication of our most fundamental responsibilities in the past,” U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said, “we are faced with yet another temporary spending measure in the coming weeks.”

She agreed with Collins that it is “unconscionable” that none of the budget bills have been considered in the Senate. She is worried that when the spending resolution is finally considered lawmakers will have little time to consider its impacts.

“Details of the plan have yet to be released, and it is impossible to analyze the proposal for its impact on Maine at this point,” Snowe said. “We should have more than 48 hours to review the legislation, unlike the last time we considered a spending bill in December 2011.”

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said while the agreement does not solve the many long-term budget issues, she said it does prevent the “brinksmanship” where failure to pass a budget has lead to the shutdown of many parts of the federal government in past years.

“This really gives Congress a little more time to act and recognizes the reality of the way Congress operates these days,” she said. “This has been a Congress that has had a difficult time coming to any resolution on tough issues.”

Pingree said it would be better to adopt the regular budget bills, but clearly that is not going to happen. She hopes that some of the budget issues could be addressed in the lame duck session after the new Congress is elected, but before they take office in January.

The six-month spending bill will not address the many other fiscal issues facing Congress, like the expiring tax breaks and reducing the federal budget deficit. Delegation members expect they will be considered in the lame duck session.

“We have to address the tax measures that are expiring,” Snowe said. “We can’t afford those huge tax increases when the nation is still recovering from the recession.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud agreed. But he blamed the Senate for the lack of action on budget bills. He said the House has passed seven bills, while the Senate has not approved one.

“The continuing resolution is not good for the agencies; it is not good for state governments; it is not good for trying to save money,” he said.

Michaud said he is so frustrated with leadership of both parties that he supports setting term limits on leaders and committee chairs. He said that frustration also led him to join a lawsuit brought by other members of Congress seeking to find the Senate’s filibuster rules unconstitutional.

Congress is back at work this week but is expected to recess for the elections the first week in October.