Talks on a transportation conference package continued yesterday as a key House Democrat predicted that language approving the Keystone XL pipeline would not make the final cut.

The House is set to vote today on a motion to instruct conferees from Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) to insist on the House-passed Keystone XL language.

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) told reporters that the controversial language, which was not in the Senate bill, would not make the final product.

"You know putting people to work is much more important right now," Rahall said. "I'd say, in the majority of states, putting people to work by passing this transportation bill is more jobs than the Keystone pipeline is in their states."

Meanwhile, key leaders on the House-Senate conference held meetings throughout the day yesterday. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) had a scheduled meeting, and Mica also met with House Republicans on the conference yesterday morning. The morning meeting, Mica said, allowed members to hash out issues from various working groups and committees and was productive, although it did not touch on Keystone XL or other areas of deep controversy.

"I think everyone is still in honeymoon phase," said Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.). "We want to make everything work, so we're trying to find common ground and work up from there."

Both sides have expressed interest in getting a bill longer than the current scope of the Senate bill, which would last 18 months if enacted in June. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said yesterday that some discussion looked at ways to get a longer bill, saying that "the longer the bill is, the better it is for the industry."

Funding issues continue to cloud any conversations about extending the length of the bill -- the Senate was only able to muster an additional $12 billion to $13 billion with smaller financing schemes, including a transfer from the leaking underground storage tank cleanup fund and a gas guzzler tax. The House, meanwhile, based a five-year bill on revenues from domestic energy projection and another funding source rumored to be a federal pension cut that ended up being used on another bill.

Shuster said the conference representatives from the Ways and Means Committee are still going over the financing measures and that the GOP is looking for further cuts rather than raising revenue but that there is goodwill to get a bill that's longer than 18 months.

"Two years is better than 18 months. Two and a half is better than two years," Shuster said, who added that industry and state officials have pushed him for a longer bill.

Reporter Nick Juliano contributed.