Legislative leaders joined Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday in saying they believe progress can be made this session on such issues as health care, transportation and education, but took pains to defuse expectations that there will be a rush to raise taxes.

Both House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, and Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, used the term "last resort" in speaking of the possibility of a tax increase.

Raising taxes might be a hard sell just three years after voters approved Referendum C, which allowed the state to keep revenues beyond those allowed in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, they said.

The leaders' comments came during the Colorado Press Association's 10th annual Legislative Forum.

McElhany said he did not expect lawmakers to go for "a radical new health-care system" on the order of what the Blue Ribbon Commission For Health Care may recommend in January.

Republicans are proposing a series of "focused, realistic and practical bills" to improve access to health care without raising taxes, he said.

Romanoff said the commission has come up with a way to save taxpayers $167 million through such things as cutting health care administrative costs. He said he would like to focus first on implementing those cost savings as stepping stones towards the possibility of a greater overhaul.

Sen. President-elect Peter Groff, D-Denver, said significantly reducing the number of uninsured Coloradans is his goal.

Ritter said ultimately whether or not a tax to pay for overhauling health care in Colorado winds up on the ballot will depend partly on how the issue plays out in the presidential campaigns as well as how the economy fares.

House Assistant Minority Leader David Balmer, R-Centennial, called transportation the big issue where he saw the most potential for accomplishing something this session.

Balmer said he'd like to pass a bill authorizing the state to borrow money for road and light-rail construction. Voters turned down Referendum D in 2005, which would have allowed the state to do that.

Ritter agreed that the state faces a serious transportation funding issue. His blue ribbon transportation panel has determined it would take $1.5 billion to meet the state's goals, and at least $500 million just to maintain existing roads.

The lawmakers said funding preschool and kindergarten programs is a priority, but disagreed on where the money should come from.

Ritter plans to pay for the programs with money from the property tax freeze he pushed through the legislature last session. Without the freeze, property tax rates would have gone down in some parts of the state.