HARRISBURG - Halfway through two days of hearings into the proposed 75-year lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the House Transportation Committee chairman said Thursday he remains convinced it is a bad idea.

"I still think it's a deal that is insufficient to achieve what the goal is here," said Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny.

Members of the team that submitted the highest bid of $12.8 billion described how it would subsidize the state's roads, bridges and mass transit agencies while assuming some of the long-term risks the state currently faces, such as potential vehicle-count decreases.

"This is a rock solid proposal - the best of all possible proposals, in our opinion," said Jordi Graells with Abertis Infraestructuras of Spain, a bidding partner with Citi Infrastructure Investors.

But two finance professors hired by the House Democratic Caucus to review the offer said its value compares unfavorably to leaving in place the transportation law passed last summer - even if tolls on Interstate 80 are never built.

"Our recommendation is reject the bid. It's too low," said Gary J. Gray, visiting professor of finance at Penn State University. "Why sell your prized asset in a buyer's market?"

He added that predictions that the state could reap 12 percent returns by investing the upfront payment were overly optimistic.

Rep. Rick Geist, R-Blair, noted that the Abertis-Citi bid is worth billions more when the cost of required future turnpike roadwork is factored in.

Gov. Ed Rendell, who solicited the bids, supports the lease proposal as an alternative to the I-80 tolls, but there was sharp questioning from committee members of both parties on Thursday.

"We can go on and on and on about these issues, but I don't think that a whole lot of minds are being changed," Markosek said after the meeting.

Markosek was noncommittal about when - or even if - his committee will vote on the bill that would provide the legislative authorization a lease requires.

"It could happen tomorrow afternoon, or it could never happen," he said.

Both sides are watching to see whether the federal government gives the go-ahead for the tolls on I-80. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said this week she was reserving judgment, but framed it as an issue for state officials.

"If that's the decision that state leaders make, then I think we should be in a position to support that or allow them to make that decision," Peters said, according to The Patriot-News of Harrisburg. "I do not think the federal government should make that decision."

Officials with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission were expected to appear before the committee today.

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