HARRISBURG -- A deal to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike "will not see the light of day," vowed the chairman of the House Transportation Committee yesterday.

That would effectively kill Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to enter into a $12.8 billion, 75-year lease with a consortium comprising the Spanish multinational Abertis Infraestructuras SA and Citi Infrastructure Investors, a subsidiary of Citibank.

"There is no meaningful support among our committee members," said committee Chairman Joseph F. Markosek, D-Monroeville. He said he has no intention of bringing it to a committee vote.

"I am putting a permanent hold on it. It will not see the light of day for as long as I am chairman."

Mr. Rendell, during a news conference in the Capitol yesterday, said he hoped Mr. Markosek will change his mind.

"I've heard that 'no intention' before, and 'no intentions' in this building have a tendency to change. Circumstances may change and other things may cause it to change," he said.

The leasing proposal called for investing the lease money and using the investment returns to fund roads, highways, bridges and mass transit systems. Critics said the lease would bring in less than estimated by the administration.

At a public hearing last month, two professors from Penn State University who were hired by House Democrats to review the proposal recommended the plan be rejected, saying the current economy was the worst environment to lease the turnpike.

"We think this is a terrific market to do this," said Rob Collins, a representative of Morgan Stanley, which was retained by the administration to broker the deal and process its budgetary impact. "Infrastructure is countercyclical."

The bill would have to be approved by the Transportation Committee before it could be voted on in the House. An earlier attempt to force the bill out of committee failed, Mr. Markosek said.

"This is a bad deal," he said. "Simply a bad deal."

A competing transportation-funding proposal would involve tolling Interstate 80. Approval of the Federal Highway Administration is needed to add tolls.