BOISE - Debating against a bill on Tuesday, 70-year-old Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, sang to his colleagues a tune he enjoyed as a boy.

"I want to ride through the ridge where the west commences, gaze at the moon until I lose my senses," he crooned on the House floor. "I can't stand hobbles and I can't stand debt. Don't fence me in."

The lyrics from Nielsen - he replaced "fences" with "debt" - came just before the House voted 47 to 23 to pass a bill that would authorize bonding for a federal transportation program.

But the song, sandwiched between legislative euphemisms and debate, served as a reminder that all bets are off when battling over transportation.

For the second consecutive year, transportation funding has emerged as the political shark bite, the roadblock to ending the state session. The issue draws a line in the sand between the House and Senate, and it divides parties, often separating rural and urban legislators.

"There are probably 105 different opinions," said Rep. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson. "There's been more talk than bills printed. I don't know whether any will go anywhere."

Unlike last year - when legislators spent an extra week debating GARVEE before carving out a resolution - the heaviest conflict in 2008 is how to cover an expected more than $200 million shortfall in transportation funding.

The latest twist regards a $550,000 performance audit of the Idaho Transportation Department - HCR50 - that passed the House unanimously Tuesday and is waiting for a hearing in the Senate. The measure would have the audit performed by an independent company and report to the Idaho Transportation Board, the Legislature and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, had said he was undecided if the bill needed hearings, and wondering if the audit's inquiries might be best addressed by the House writing a letter to ITD.

But leaving the Capitol Annex later that evening, he said it would receive one today.

"If that's what they need, then that's what they'll get," McGee said.

Still, the audit had already sparked another political fight.

Last Friday, a House Transportation Committee was canceled last-minute. On Tuesday, the committee cancelled hearings because the audit hadn't been heard. And on Wednesday, two bills that passed committee and waiting floor votes - vehicle registration fee increases - were pulled and returned to committee.

GOP House leadership, which has said a proposal to increase the fuel tax is coming, said they won't allow those bills - and any others in the House - to see any action until the Senate adopts the audit.

"We're serious," said House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly. "We want that audit done."

Some senators said the House is likely being cautious and using the audit as leverage.

"They probably want to make sure the audit gets approved - and will be done correctly - before ITD gets any more money," said Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home.

ITD has not taken a position on the bill, but will review consulting agreements, said Julie Pipal, an ITD manager. Clete Edmunson, an aide to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, said Otter hasn't taken a position on the audit.

Regions not receiving GARVEE funding, such as the Magic Valley, could benefit from new revenue - raising rental car fees is also possible - because it would go toward the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said that GARVEE provides a second source of funding for transportation projects. Without investing in GARVEE, all projects would go through the STIP and create a backlog of projects, he said. He said if the Legislature wants to use a federal program, it needs to follow federal rules.

Legislators also said Wednesday the session will not end Friday, as was previously planned, after Senate leadership indicated there will be a meeting Monday to discuss a bill first presented in committee Wednesday.

Transportation issues are likely to extend into next week also.

"I think Boise State has a better chance of winning the (NCAA men's basketball) tournament than we do at getting home on Friday," McGee said.

Jared S. Hopkins may be reached at 420-8371 or jhopkins@magicvalley.com