STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 17, 2012…. Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday expressed confidence that he would not be forced to choose between signing a bill that eliminates parole for repeat violent offenders or vetoing the popular proposal because the final bill did not go far enough to reform state sentencing laws.

“I’m not going to get a package that’s not complete, that’s not balanced. I know the legislative leadership agrees that we should have that balance and I’m going to be looking forward to seeing how that balance is struck in the final bill that comes to me,” Patrick told reporters.

Since the Senate passed a broad, wide-ranging criminal justice bill in November that included a parole ban for three-time violent felons, the prospects of the bill becoming law have fluctuated amid uncertainty.

The House took up the habitual offender legislation before its winter recess, but the Senate and Gov. Patrick have insisted that the Legislature take a more comprehensive look at sentencing reform, including reduced mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes that would be applied to current inmates and help alleviate financial pressures on the prison system caused by overcrowding at many state facilities.

Advocates for prisoners have criticized the so-called three strikes provisions aimed at habitual offenders, arguing it will worsen overcrowding in correctional facilities and add at least $75 million a year in costs to the prison system. In a letter to the lawmakers negotiating the bill, Prisoners Legal Services argued that prisons in Massachusetts are already, on average, at 143 percent capacity.

“It’s essential,” Patrick said on Tuesday. “The bill that I will sign will be a balanced bill. I’ve made that as clear as possible to the leadership and through my team with the committee heads. There are things we can and will do to toughen the habitual offender law and do it in a way that’s intelligent, but there are also things we have to do around sentencing reform to move out people who are not dangerous. That’s a burden on resources and it’s not really a solution for successful reentry. So I’m looking for that balance.”

Patrick and the Senate have also endorsed mandatory post-release supervision for all inmates as a strategy to reduced recidivism that could come at an initial expense, but supporters say will save the state money in the long-term by avoiding costly incarcerations.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo last week told the News Service that he intended to open a discussion with Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty about a way to take up portions of the Senate bill unaddressed in the House legislation that was approved last year.

The proposals range from changes to drug weights for criminal prosecution and a crackdown on gun possession by convicted felons to the judicial option to include pets in restraining orders and a plan to shrink the size of schools zones within which drug offenders receive stiff mandatory minimum sentences.

All of these proposals come as many lawmakers are already thinking about their re-election prospects in November.

DeLeo said he hoped to pass a second bill through the House and incorporate those actions into a conference committee that has essentially put its deliberations on hold while the House debates a course of action.

An aide to O’Flaherty told the News Service on Tuesday that no decisions had been made about how the House would proceed, but said conversations between O’Flaherty, DeLeo and other members of leadership were ongoing.

Senate President Therese Murray said she supported the House’s move toward taking a more comprehensive look at Senate’s crime package, but predicted the complexity of the issues involved could take time to resolve.

“I think it was healthy to have that debate. We had it here. We took our time in passing it. There’s a lot more advocacy out there as they move to do their debate, so I’m sure it’s going to take them awhile,” Murray told the News Service last week.

Noting that Attorney General Martha Coakley and the state’s district attorneys also supported a broader approach to the crime bill over a narrower crackdown on repeat offenders, Murray said she did not support the idea of simply moving the habitual offender law and revisiting the sentencing reforms at a later date.

“No. We as you know did our due diligence and did the entire bill just as we had done the year before, a sentencing bill, so I think it was important for us to have the whole package,” Murray said.