Discussions on oil spill liability compromise language may be temporarily stalled until lawmakers sort out a budget for the current fiscal year, one of the lawmakers involved in the discussions said yesterday.

Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have been working on legislation to raise the current $75 million liability cap for companies involved in an oil spill. The lawmakers have said for weeks that they were "days away" from floating a measure that would raise the cap while allowing smaller operators to remain in business.

But both senators yesterday said they had made no new progress on the measure this week.

"Since our last week, we haven't made any further discussions, only because we haven't put it on the agenda yet. We'll be back at it," Begich told reporters yesterday in the Capitol.

The Senate is currently embroiled in debate about a spending measure to keep the federal government in operation for the rest of the fiscal year. Asked whether he plans to restart negotiations with Landrieu once budget discussions are through, Begich said, "For sure, yes."

Some liberal Democrats have proposed eliminating the liability cap completely and included language to do so in an energy and oil spill-response package in the last Congress. But debate on that measure stalled as Begich, Landrieu and others raised concerns about the effect unlimited liability would have on smaller companies operating offshore.

Since August, Begich and Landrieu have been negotiating compromise language that bridges the gap between holding oil companies accountable for a spill and keeping smaller operators in business.

Their language will likely raise the initial liability cap to $250 million, after which a mutual industry-fed insurance fund would kick in. Landrieu also would like to see a provision added that ensures the federal government shares revenue from oil companies' spill penalties with the states where the spill occurred.