SALEM (AP) - When lawmakers hightailed it out of Salem at the close of the 2007 legislative session this week, they left a long list of new laws in their wake, as well as plenty of unfinished business.

But that business might not stay unfinished for long - lawmakers will be back for another go-around in February, when transportation and immigration issues are set to top a long list of priorities.

Usually, Oregon's citizen legislature meets once every two years. This year, though, legislators are experimenting with a new model. They promised to be done with the 2007 session by the end of June, and pledged to return to Salem for a monthlong session in February.

At first, that February special session was conceived as a chance to wrap up budget loose-ends, and perhaps defuse looming citizen ballot measures that would otherwise be put to voters in November 2008.

But as the session slipped by, House Speaker Jeff Merkley told reporters that, “just about every hour, I hear someone say, 'Well, we can take that up in February 2008.”'

At a round-table meeting with reporters this week, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said lawmakers won't be able to avoid dealing with the hot-button issue of immigration in February, especially with a pending federal deadline to check citizenship status before issuing driver's licenses.

Oregon is one of only a handful of states that doesn't require proof of residency to get a license; if that doesn't change, state residents may not be able to use their licenses as an ID card when they try to board a plane.

House members, prodded by Kulongoski's office, passed a measure to comply with the Real ID act, but the plan bogged down in the state Senate, where Democrats were concerned that it was an infringement on states' rights.

“I think they avoided what they are going to have to do in February,” Kulongoski said.

House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, singled out transportation as another issue likely to be on the February agenda. Lawmakers this session didn't do much to address the issue of clogged roads, though they did approve $100 million in taxpayer-backed bonds for rail, aviation, marine and transit projects.

But a Democratic plan to increase the fee for getting a license plate by $10 per plate, with the money slated for road maintenance, failed in the face of Republican opposition.

“There are huge maintenance and preservation needs,” Hunt said. “There are huge congestion and freight mobility needs.”

Over in the state Senate, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said an affordable housing plan that failed in the House because of its funding mechanism - a $15 surcharge to file real estate and other documents - could resurface in February, as could plans for a one-cent payroll deduction to cover the costs of paid family leave.

And nearly everyone thinks lawmakers will have to provide some kind of stability for once timber dependent counties, who've been getting a financial bailout from the federal government ever since endangered species regulations shut down logging across large areas of federal lands.

Those payments look to be tapering off. Already this session, lawmakers approved sending $56 million from the state highway trust fund to the counties to help cushion the blow of losing the federal money.

Kulongoski also said lawmakers will have to consider what to do about a proposed public safety communication network that would allow emergency responders to communicate with each other.

The plan has stalled because of its price tag; Kulongoski told reporters Thursday that backers had originally estimated that it could cost up to $950 million, even higher than previously reported. But new federal rules require the state to get some kind of new radio system for emergency responders in place by 2012.

There will still be plenty of political action before the February session gets under way, of course. This November, voters will weigh in on three measures referred to the ballot by lawmakers, including plans to raise the cigarette tax to pay for an expansion of children's health insurance and to reform the state's property compensation laws.

Lawmakers could find themselves tying up loose ends in February if those measures pass. They could also, Hunt said, try to act preemptively on potential citizen ballot measures for November 2008 - such as one being floated by former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix that would impose tougher penalties for property crimes.