The Legislature has to come back tomorrow. The governor put public-private highway projects on the agenda. And Robert Nichols, an engineer and former highway commissioner who's now a state senator, says the Legislature ought to solve the problems with those projects now instead of later.

That's not the deal the Gov. Rick Perry's office was trying to get, and it's potentially a threat to the success of a special session that's designed to knock out three issues in three days and end.

Lawmakers have to change the expiration dates on five agencies that will otherwise go out of business in 14 months. They have to authorize the sale of $2 billion in highway bonds already approved by voters (and a revolving credit fund that adds to the buying power of that bond package).

And they're supposed to reauthorize Comprehensive Development Agreements, or CDAs — the public-private partnerships used to build toll roads and other projects with private and public sector financing, operations and ownership. Nichols and other senators who worked on an interim committee on that issue (and others) want to settle the whole thing now. Nichols would give local officials first right of refusal on new CDA projects, letting them decide whether they wanted to participate or leave the jobs to others. That's called primacy and you'll probably read it a lot for the next 72 hours or so. He would also set up a process for working out the deals, settling disputes, and so on.

The Texas Department of Highways and the governor's office want legislators to reauthorize CDAs for a non-controversial list of projects and leave the blanket authorization for later. They're pushing for that while Nichols talks to senators and others about his approach. The list has the advantage of ducking controversy and getting lawmakers out of town fast. The blanket has the advantage of putting a leash on public-private deals at a state agency held in low political regard in the Pink Building.

"We can take a short term approach, but I think it would be a missed opportunity," Nichols says. "My idea is to use this as an opportunity to fix CDAs once and for all."

The Senate approved his approach with just two "No" votes during the regular session. That legislation died in the House as deadlines ran out at the end of the session. Nichols filed a bill that would preserve a list of projects already underway or in negotiation and would put the new rules into effect for everything that follows. And he says the short-term approach — approve a list and leave town — doesn't solve the fundamental problems. Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, filed the same bill in the House, but also says there's "an alternative bill" in the wings if this one doesn't get traction.

Last week, there appeared to be a consensus developing around the idea of a list. With Nichols filing his bill, everybody's still negotiating.

The session starts Wednesday morning.