SALEM - The nation needs to "find the will and courage" to pay for transportation upgrades and other government needs despite the economic slump, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden told a conference of political and business leaders Tuesday.

The Oregon Democrat spoke to about 300 people at a follow-up meeting to a statewide economic summit held in Portland last December that was organized by Wyden, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and then Gov.-elect Ted Kulongoski.

Wyden harkened back to public works projects that President Franklin Roosevelt implemented to employ people during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"We found the will to build vital infrastructure," Wyden said. "We've got to find the will and courage to fund transportation, education and technology."

"In the current state budget crisis, it would be easy to step away," Wyden said, praising the business executives for taking time to map out ways to improve the state's economy.

December's summit meeting produced a 12-topic business Oregon Business Plan for stimulating the economy that included more high-technology development, strengthening public schools, expanding the supply of readily available industrial land and deepening the Columbia River channel between Portland and Astoria to accommodate larger ships.

Some of the group's recommendations are in the works in the Legislature, but few related bills have cleared both houses.

The summit, for example, called for doubling the $30, two-year auto registration fee and raising the gasoline tax by a 2 cents per gallon to fund road and bridge repairs.

Legislative hearings are to begin Wednesday on a compromise package that would raise the registration fee to $54, raise title fees from $30 to $50 and boost weight-mile taxes on truckers.

Kulongoski praised the agreement as a milestone of the legislative session that will yield $115 million a year to back bonds to repair hundreds of bridges and produce 5,000 jobs a year for 10 years.

The Democratic governor said he's striving to expand business in an economy "where jobs and capital can move across borders with the push of a button. We need to make sure businesses don't push that button.

As an updated business plan "scorecard" distributed at Tuesday's meeting notes, there has been no support for a gas tax increase. Kulongoski has proposed a 1-cent increase to fund state police highway patrols.

Wyden said the 'most direct federal hook" into the business plan is transportation and that he is co-sponsoring a bill to authorize $50 million in federal bonding for transportation projects.

The summit report also urges lawmakers to stabilize general state revenues by considering cutting income taxes and taking "a fresh look" at alternatives, including a sales tax, with the idea of sending voters a tax overhaul plan.

The governor urged patience in achieving the goal of a stable funding source for schools and told business leaders they need to be part of a tax- restructuring effort.

"I need your powers of persuasion," he said. "We will not get stable funding overnight and will not get it without you."

The Legislature has not yet made major decisions toward adopting a 2003-05 budget and is grappling with a revenue drop of $1 billion since Kulongoski proposed a budget in January.

One business plan goal that lawmakers have achieved is scaling back costs of the Public Employees Retirement System. The changes are estimated to reduce the system's projected $16 billion long-term deficit by $9 billion, if they survive certain court challenges from unions.

House Speaker Karen Minnis told Tuesday's conference that PERS reforms help the economy by reducing pension contribution costs of state and local governments.

Minnis also said the state has done a poor job of identifying industrial lands for development.

"We need a thorough review of our land use system," she said.