RICHMOND -- Virginia lawmakers in both parties appear ready to scrap the state's controversial "abusive driver" fees. But they are far from agreeing on how, or whether, the state should replace revenue the fees were supposed to generate.

Gov. Tim Kaine urged a joint session of the General Assembly last week to repeal the civil remedial fees the state levies on Virginia drivers for serious traffic offenses such as reckless or drunken driving. The fees, which run as high as $3,000 for a felony offense, were part of a multifaceted transportation funding package that lawmakers passed last year.

State officials initially expected the abuser fees to generate about $65 million annually for highway maintenance, but a recent legislative study indicated they actually would produce much less. As lawmakers consider abolishing the fees, they also must determine how to generate new revenue for maintenance needs. Otherwise, the state will have to pay for highway maintenance with money that normally would go toward new construction.

"Everybody realized last year, in the aftermath of that session, that maintenance is still short and the abuser fees were not going to produce enough money to be meaningful on the maintenance side," Kaine said Monday.

Kaine said he still favors a proposal he pushed without success in each of the past two years: increasing the sales tax on vehicles from 3 percent to 5 percent. An even smaller increase in the tax could address highway maintenance needs, he said. But, Kaine said, "I'm not going to introduce the same bill for the third year in a row.

"We'll see what the legislature's ideas are," he said.

Lawmakers in both parties have filed bills to abolish the fees, but only a few have proposed new ways to generate maintenance dollars. Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Russell County, is sponsoring a bill (Senate Bill 411) to increase the state gasoline tax from 17.5 cents per gallon to 20 cents. Even a one-cent increase would produce about $50 million annually, said Puckett, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee.

"The reason behind this is that the gas tax has nothing to do with what you pay at the pump," said Puckett, arguing that prices differ little in border states with higher gas taxes than Virginia's.

Asked about his bill's prospects, Puckett said: "I don't think there's a chance right now."

But, he added, that could change as lawmakers search for ways to replace lost maintenance dollars.

Republicans have shown little appetite for tax increases. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, who sits on the Transportation Committee, said lawmakers should consider using existing revenue -- such as a portion of the existing sales tax -- to fill the maintenance gap created by eliminating the abuser fees.

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, has defended the abuser fees, particularly those applied to drunken drivers. He has accused Democrats of wanting to unravel the entire transportation funding package passed last year.

"What's their alternative? Just raise taxes," Griffith said.

The package also calls for $3 billion in borrowing for statewide road and transit projects, with revenue from existing taxes on insurance premiums used to retire the debt.

The imposition of the abuser fees triggered a public backlash that rang in lawmakers' ears throughout the fall election campaigns. Voters complained about the severity of the fees and the fact that they apply only to Virginia drivers on the state's roads.

Several lawmakers have said the fees should be scrapped regardless of whether they replace the lost revenue. Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, said debates over transportation funding won't end this year, regardless of what happens with the abuser fees.

"Transportation is a long, intractable problem, and I think it's one we'll have to keep working on," Fralin said.

Staff writer Mason Adams contributed to this report.