Gov. John Hoeven demanded changes Tuesday in some of the North Dakota Legislature's most important budgets, saying he wants to head off the possibility of a special session.

"If we have areas of disagreement, let's fully work our way through them, give both the legislative branch and the executive branch a chance to address them before the Legislature adjourns," Hoeven said Tuesday. "I am trying to make sure we avoid having a special session."

The Republican governor held a news conference on Tuesday to publicly challenge some of the GOP-controlled Legislature's spending priorities.

It was attended by several Democratic lawmakers and lobbyists for the North Dakota Education Association, which endorsed Hoeven's Democratic opponent, Heidi Heitkamp, in the 2000 election. The state school superintendent, Democrat Wayne Sanstead, also looked on approvingly.

Republican legislative leaders did not show up.

"I think it would be better to have him walk down the hall and talk, rather than go downstairs and have a press conference," the House majority leader, Rep. Rick Berg, R-Fargo, said afterward. "It's part of the politics of the game, I guess."

Hoeven and the Legislature have clashed on human services spending and whether to set aside more state money for teacher salary and benefit improvements.

Lawmakers have also rejected Hoeven's proposal to establish a women's prison on the grounds of the state mental hospital in Jamestown.

Berg said Hoeven's remarks "may not have much of an effect either way, at this stage of the game" in influencing the course of legislation.

"We've spent a lot of time with public input, and legislators have worked on these things for three months," Berg said. "If anything, it may have a negative effect on moving the direction that the governor wants us to."

Late Tuesday, the state Senate voted 27-18 to approve an education finance bill that did not include money set aside for teacher pay and benefits, an omission that Hoeven highlighted on Tuesday.

"The Legislature has provided funding close to the level proposed in our budget, but there has not been an adequate link made to increasing teacher compensation," the governor said at his news conference.

Hoeven appealed for lawmakers to finish their work on potentially difficult issues, and send him the completed bills, before the 2003 Legislature ends this week.

Republican legislative leaders are not likely to accommodate Hoeven, for fear of colliding with the state constitution's 80-day time limit for sessions.

Today, the Legislature begins its 73rd day of work. Lawmakers probably will not finish this year's session before Saturday, and the Legislature's last bills will be delivered to the governor after final adjournment.

Should Hoeven veto the Legislature's human services or education spending bills, he would have to call a special session of the Legislature. Special sessions may run indefinitely.

Sen. Bob Stenehjem, R-Bismarck, the Senate majority leader, said the concept of setting aside additional state aid for teacher salaries has been rejected in both the House and Senate. "It's kind of hard for us to go against that," he said.

Two years ago, Hoeven successfully pushed the idea of earmarking state aid for teacher salaries and benefits. The Legislature approved payments of $3,000 per teacher.

Both the House and Senate have agreed to maintain the compensation program for the next two years, at a cost of $51 million.

But lawmakers have not accepted Hoeven's proposal to boost the stipend by another $1,500 per teacher.

As written, the Legislature's education finance plan raises spending on foundation aid, which is the primary assistance program for local schools, from $474 million to $489.4 million.

Most of the program's money is distributed in payments per student, which are to rise 11.8 percent over two years, from $2,347 to $2,623. The per-student increase is more pronounced because North Dakota's elementary and high school enrollment is declining, which means the money is being paid out for fewer students.

"In most school districts, the teachers are getting the bulk of that per-pupil payment in salary, anyway," Stenehjem said.