WASHINGTON – House and Senate leaders are making a last-ditch effort to revive stalled legislation to overhaul federal transportation programs – Congress' best bet for passage of a major jobs bill this year – but prospects for passage before the November election are dimming.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, as well as two key committee chairmen, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., are scheduled to meet Tuesday to try to reach an agreement on how to handle a collection of sensitive policy and financing matters still in dispute.

A 47-member House-Senate committee has been holding negotiations on the bill for over a month, but they have been unable to reach agreement on a host of difficult issues, lawmakers involved in the process and their staffs said.