RICHMOND -- The House of Delegates inched toward the procedural midpoint of the legislative session on Monday with a lengthy floor session highlighted by a spirited debate over legislation to spell out the power of state and local governments to condemn private property.

Behind the scenes, Gov. Tim Kaine made a private appeal to House Republican leaders to support his nominee for secretary of the commonwealth, former union leader Daniel LeBlanc. Some GOP leaders were miffed when details of the meeting were leaked late in the afternoon, adding more friction to an already tense nomination fight.

The House must complete work on its own bills by the end of today, and delegates plowed through legislation for more than seven hours Monday in an effort to stay on schedule. The House passed legislation that would eliminate the so-called "triggerman rule" in death penalty cases and advanced a package of bills that would dramatically increase penalties for certain sex crimes against children. Those measures had broad bipartisan support.

But a carefully crafted compromise bill (HB 94) aimed at clearly delineating government's eminent domain powers hit a wall of opposition in the House, as a bipartisan coalition forced through an amendment to impose greater restrictions on a government's power to condemn private property for public use.

The push to revamp Virginia's eminent domain law stems from the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial ruling last year in Kelo v. New London, which upheld a Connecticut city's decision to condemn homes for a waterfront development.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, defines public purposes for which land can be condemned and states that eminent domain cannot be used "if the primary purpose is the enhancement of tax revenues."

But some House members wanted to make a stronger statement against eminent domain, and they rallied behind an amendment sponsored by Del. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth. Joannou's amendment stripped out the definitions of public use in Suit's bill and replaced them with broad language aimed at limiting government's power to condemn property and transfer it to private entities.

Suit argued that the amendment could limit government's ability to transfer surplus property and undercut initiatives such as the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act, which allows a private entity to operate a road and collect tolls. The House passed the amendment by a vote of 51-45 with strong support from rural lawmakers. But some supporters of the amendment said privately they expect it to die in negotiations with the Senate, which will vote today on a bill similar to Suit's original measure.

Suit said she remains confident that an acceptable compromise will pass.

"At the end of the day, we all want to do the right thing," Suit said.

Before Monday's flurry of floor activity, Kaine met privately with House Republican leaders to discuss LeBlanc's appointment. LeBlanc, the former president of the Virginia AFL-CIO, was grilled by a House committee last week for his criticism of the state's right-to-work law, among other things. House members have raised the possibility of removing LeBlanc's name from a resolution confirming Kaine's Cabinet appointments before voting on it. The Senate must act on the matter first.

Kaine said he has tried to set a bipartisan tone by naming two Republicans to his Cabinet, and he expects lawmakers to show the same spirit by confirming LeBlanc.

"I don't think they're going to ignore that in the first month and make me reconsider the path I've been taking," Kaine said.

But House GOP leaders were unhappy Monday afternoon when details of their brief meeting with Kaine were leaked to reporters. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said Kaine spelled out his position on the LeBlanc appointment and that Republicans made no commitment to the governor.

"There was no exchange," Griffith said. "I didn't think he was admonishing us at all."