Compromise in Doubt For Va. Roads Funding

"Virginians will know that they've got to get different legislators," he said.

Kaine and other Democrats said they worry House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) and other top House Republicans will order their ranks to oppose any tax increase or face retribution, such as losing coveted committee seats.

"The rural legislators apparently led by the speaker seem pretty determined not to help the state," said Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), no relation to the House Republican. "The speaker won't deal with any statewide approach, any taxes of any kind."

But House Republican leaders accuse Kaine of calling a special session, at a cost of $20,000 a day, knowing that the legislature will not pass a bill.

"It's political. He thinks he can make it look like our fault," House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) said. "He's playing games."

Kaine has touted his message for the past month around the state. A coalition representing retailers, developers, real estate agents and contractors supports his view that a statewide tax increase is needed.

"The business community in the state is certainly at a point where they want to see substantive results in June," said K. Clayton Roberts Jr., leader of the coalition Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education. "The business community is out of patience, and certainly there will be consequences [if nothing passes]. . . . We'll fix it at the ballot box."

Watkins, who favors a gas tax increase and more reliance on toll roads to charge out-of-state drivers, said Kaine should have waited to call a session at the end of the summer when gas prices might be lower.

Legislators predict the session could drag on for months.

"There's a long, long way to go," said Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax). "It's not something that's going to be solved in a couple days in Richmond. That's a starting point."

The General Assembly approved a package last year to pump $1.1 billion a year into transportation projects across Virginia. Regional authorities were set up to collect $400 million a year in Northern Virginia and $200 million in Hampton Roads.

But lawmakers repealed abusive-driver fees, which were estimated to bring in $65 million a year. Then the state Supreme Court ruled that the regional authorities could not constitutionally levy taxes and fees because they are not elected bodies. And an economic downturn and rising asphalt and steel prices are forcing the state to divert construction funds to maintenance.

"The money is obviously needed, and the solutions just get more expensive," said Bob Chase, executive director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a business-supported group that lobbies for transportation funding. "At some point, solutions may be beyond our ability to finance."

Albo said he hopes to team with May and Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax) to offer a compromise that includes sources for regional and state money. But Albo said nothing will pass unless Saslaw, who favors a gas tax increase, and William Howell, who favors no tax increase, ease up on some demands.

The two leaders have not spoken in weeks about transportation, the speaker's office said.