Lawmakers continued to meet behind closed doors Tuesday in hopes of striking a last-minute deal to get an infrastructure bond package on June's ballot.

The original deadline was last Friday, though there has been speculation that it could be pushed back. No public sessions were held Tuesday, and prospects for a deal seemed shaky.

San Joaquin Valley officials are watching closely, hoping that two long sought-after projects get included in any deal: $1 billion for improvements to Highway 99 and money to build a dam and reservoir at Temperance Flat, upstream of Millerton Lake.

The bond deal is "either going to be a lifeline for this region or a noose," said Fresno Mayor Alan Autry in an interview.

Officials from across the state are angling to get a piece of whatever bond plan might emerge. Autry said the Valley has been overlooked in the past and because of that is more deserving than most regions.

"You're darn right we need some earmarks our way -- to play catch-up," he said. "We get one bite of the apple, and you're either eating the apple or looking at other people eating the apple."

At this point, prospects for the Highway 99 money seem fairly bright; the question is how much.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, in a Monday memo to Senate Democrats, criticized the Assembly plan as including too much money for the highway.

The Senate proposal, which was voted down Saturday, capped the Highway 99 money at $750 million. The Assembly plan, which has not been made public or voted on, reportedly includes $1 billion for the highway, an amount that Perata said would leave other Northern California highways "with insufficient funds for other long-needed and long-awaited improvements."

Valley officials have touted the highway as a project of statewide significance.

The prospects for Temperance Flat are less clear.

The Senate plan included no money. The Assembly plan, lawmakers have said, sets aside $500 million that could be split among the three surface water storage projects, including Temperance. But the plan has been criticized by Republicans for its apparent requirement that a separate vote be held to appropriate the money.

Valley Republicans have stuck close to party demands that the bond measure include money for water storage and be limited to other so-called "bricks and mortar" projects.

Roy Ashburn, Chuck Poochigian and Jeff Denham joined their Republican colleagues to vote against the nearly $49 billion bond package that came before the Senate early Saturday. The measure came up three votes short of the required two-thirds approval.

"This is supposed to be a building bond to build things," said Ashburn, R-Bakersfield. "What it looks like now is a bunch of studies and a bunch of programs."

Poochigian, R-Fresno, said he was irked that the senators had little time to review the bill, which was drafted shortly before it hit the Senate floor.

"Never have so many known so little about something so big," he said.

In an interview shortly after the vote, Denham, R-Merced, said, "the deal kept changing, I think that was the biggest challenge for many of us."

Valley Democrats are dealing with a trickier political equation. Most of their party colleagues have taken a stand against including a lot of money for dam building.

But water storage is a big issue in the Valley, where cities and farmers alike are concerned about what impact San Joaquin River restoration might have on supplies. A legal settlement now under negotiation would refill dried sections of the river by increasing flows from Friant Dam.

Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, has said the plan must include money for the Temperance project to get his support. If water supplies are lost to river restoration, "we're going to be the region that takes it on the chin," he said.

Assembly Member Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, was sick Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, has pushed for money for below-ground storage facilities, or so-called water banks. He voted "yes" on the Senate proposal, which included $500 million for groundwater storage and $500 million for a proposed reconstruction of the Perris Dam in Riverside County but no money for a Northern California dam.

Autry said that groundwater storage projects would only benefit the Bakersfield region because the rest of the San Joaquin Valley doesn't have the ability to store as much groundwater.

But Florez said that "we can always move and trade water."

A lingering question is just how much time lawmakers have to cut a deal.

Prospects seemed grim in the morning of meeting an apparent midnight deadline. But as the day wore on, there were signs that lawmakers might have a few more days to work with.

Assembly Speaker Fabian N??ez, D-Los Angeles, sent an afternoon letter to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson asking for a clarification on a deadline. McPherson responded with his own letter saying "March 10th was the last day to pass additional measures and ensure a successful administration on the June Primary Election."

If the governor and Legislature choose to go beyond the deadline, they will need to get assurances that ballot pamphlets can be printed and mailed in time "to get essential information to the voters prior to casting their votes," McPherson said in the letter.

He added that the typical eight-day public display period for ballot labels -- essentially short descriptions of ballot measures -- would have to be shortened and that "any additional measures must include funding for a supplemental ballot pamphlet."

The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.