Gov. Timothy M. Kaine ridiculed Republican legislators Thursday after a long and contentious day of rhetoric and partisan gamesmanship failed to produce any new revenue for transportation.

"I don't think I've ever seen a group work so hard to do nothing," the Democratic governor told reporters hours after the General Assembly ended a fruitless six-day special session. "I mean, it was doing nothing taken to an art."

Kaine said the House GOP majority arrived in Richmond determined to reject proposals to raise money for roads and mass transit, despite what he said was broad support for a transportation fix from local governments, business groups and Virginians who spend too much time stuck on traffic-choked highways.

Those legislators should not be allowed to "slink out of town" without being held accountable, Kaine said. That accountability could come in the 2009 legislative elections, he suggested.

"Some of these guys are really in a hole because they've been obstructionists," Kaine said.

But opponents of Kaine's plan to raise a variety of taxes and fees, as well as a similar Senate-backed bill that the governor later supported, said Virginians already are tapped out because of rising fuel, energy and food prices, and now is not the time to be demanding more of their money.

"Virginia taxpayers can rest easy that Democrats have failed, at least for this session, in their relentless efforts to raise the gas tax and a host of other regressive taxes," House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said as the session wound down.

House Republicans instead advocated an audit of the state's highway operations and measures to tap royalties from offshore oil drilling, should a federal ban be lifted, and revenue from future growth at Virginia's seaports and two Washington-area airports. Those proposals were rejected by the Senate.

"We just haven't found the right combination yet," said Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Henrico.

Kaine said he has already planned to make energy and the environment the focal points of the next legislative session - his last as governor - but he vowed to again press for substantial new funding for transportation.

"We're going to work on problems that matter to Virginians, and this is a problem that matters to Virginians," he said.

Kaine noted that legislators also failed to reach agreement on several judicial appointments, including positions on the Virginia Supreme Court, the Virginia Court of Appeals and the State Corporation Commission. That leaves the appointments to Kaine, but his appointees must be confirmed by the legislature at its next session.

The uncertainty over confirmation makes it more difficult to persuade potential judges to make the leap, Kaine said. Nevertheless, he said he was confident he would be able to find qualified candidates.