State Senate Democrats said during a hearing on the turnpike proposal Tuesday that they have lots of questions, including how leasing the toll road would affect the Interstate 95 connector project in Bucks County and construction on the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Fayette County.

And late Tuesday House Democratic leaders said that they planned to vote later this week on an alternative plan for raising the $1.7 billion Rendell wants for repairing the state's crumbling highways and bridges and for bailing out cash-strapped mass transit agencies.

Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Richard A. Kasunic of Fayette County said he could not back a turnpike lease deal that would cut funding for finishing a stretch of the Mon-Fayette between Brownsville and Uniontown.

"I need more answers about how these projects fit into the scheme of things," Kasunic said. "We want specifics before we put up a vote on this very important issue. Highways are our future. They are going to take us out of our poverty (in Fayette County)."

Turnpike commission officials oppose Rendell's lease proposal.

Joseph G. Brimmeier, turnpike commission chief executive officer, told the Democratic senators that the commission backs completing the Mon-Fayette and I-95 connector projects.

"Nobody would like to see the southwestern beltway and the I-95 connector completed more than the commission," Brimmeier said.

But he cautioned that lawmakers ultimately must decide whether the Mon-Fayette and the I-95 connector are completed.

Brimmeier said his agency's alternative plan to raise money for highways, bridges and mass transit would give lawmakers the flexibility to decide which road construction projects are funded.

The commission's plan calls for borrowing $4 billion and converting Interstate 80 into a toll road in 2011.

Motorists would see turnpike tolls climb by 25 percent in 2010 and by about 3 percent per year after that, according to the commission's plan.

Under the plan, the state would get about $800 million per year for highways, bridges and mass transit.

Much of that plan will be included in the transportation funding package House Democrats unveiled Tuesday evening.

In addition to raising turnpike tolls, House Democrats proposed expanding the 6 percent sales tax on tickets for the Phillies, Eagles, Steelers, Pirates and other professional sports teams.

Motorists would pay higher fees for auto inspections, vehicle emissions testing and automobile titles under the plan.

Under the plan, retail gas prices could also increase by 2.5 cents per year starting in 2009.

That's when the state would roll back a 12 cents per gallon tax on retail gasoline and replace it with a tax on wholsale gasoline purchases.

Gas station owners would pay the tax, but House Democratic analysts predict the cost would be passed on to consumers.

Fees on rental cars and tires also would increase under the Democratic plan.

Sen. J. Barry Stout, a Washington County Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he has concerns about Rendell's plan and the turnpike's alternative proposal.

Stout said he's not eager to turn management of a public asset such as the turnpike over to a private firm.

But borrowing $4 billion as the turnpike commission proposed may put the state too deep in debt, he said.

Stout also called on the governor to be more active in helping settle the issue.

"The governor has to weigh in on this," Stout said. "There are two or three proposals out there, and we do not have any sense of where support is."

Sen. Gerald J. LaValle, a Beaver County Democrat, said after the hearing that he's leaning toward backing the turnpike commission's plan.

"It concerns me that we could lose total control of what the fees would be and what the terms of the contract for workers would be," LaValle said, referring to Rendell's plan for leasing the highway to a private firm.

LaValle also said it's unlikely Rendell and lawmakers will agree on a plan before the summer recess.

"I think the only thing you could get done before June 30 is an agreement with the governor to take care of highways and transit at some point between June 30 and December," LaValle said.