SPRINGFIELD - With tempers still flaring between lawmakers and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, members of the Illinois House are slated to return to the state Capitol on Tuesday.

In a year that has already seen them break previous overtime sessions, the plan Tuesday is to vote on a proposal that could raise millions of dollars for mass transit in the Chicago region.

But, just as they've grappled with disagreement over the state budget, the mass transit issue represents another thorn in the side of Democrats who control state government.

The House is poised to vote on a plan that calls for a 0.25 percent increase in the RTA sales tax collected in the six-county region around Chicago, as well as a new real estate transfer tax in Chicago.

The push to enact the tax hikes comes as the transit systems that run the buses and trains in Chicago say they will cut services and impose fare hikes if nothing is done before Sept. 15.

Officials with the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace say they have a combined $226 million budget shortfall for 2007.

If the House votes in favor of the proposal, Senate Democrats would find themselves under pressure to vote on the plan.

If the measure were to find its way to the governor's desk, however, Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he will veto the proposal because it violates his campaign pledge to not raise taxes.

On Wednesday, in a written statement, the governor reiterated his opposition and again called on lawmakers to support his plan to raise taxes on businesses, which was rejected unanimously in the House last spring.

"I do not support the plan to require people to pay a higher sales tax and real estate transfer tax," he wrote. "That just ends up hurting the very people who rely on mass transit. We shouldn't take more money from working people when there are major corporations doing business in Illinois who benefit from a strong mass transit system, but aren't paying their fair share to help maintain it."

The transit stalemate is just the latest battle in a contentious and bitter year that has seen Democrats at war with each other. Last week, Blagojevich filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, aiming to force him to convene special sessions.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the plan is for lawmakers to return on Tuesday to deal solely with mass transit funding for the Chicago area.

The Senate is not scheduled to meet.

Brown said there are no plans for now to take up the issue of the state budget, which Blagojevich carved up with his veto pen and angered many House Democrats when he eliminated funding for projects and programs in their home districts.

The governor said without House support for his business tax hike, he would use the money he cut from their districts to bankroll his health insurance expansion plan.

State Rep. David Miller, D-Dolton, said the governor's strategy is "counter-productive."

"He needs to bring people together, for that is what real leadership requires," Miller said.

In a letter to newspapers across the state, Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, called for a bipartisan approach to resolving problems.

"If state government is to find workable solutions to these and other problems - our citizens must demand change from the state's most powerful leaders," Watson wrote.