INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Senate endorsed a plan Monday that would give Gov. Mitch Daniels the authority to seek private developers for two major proposed highway projects: the 75-mile Indiana Commerce Connector, which would loop around part of Indianapolis, and the Illiana Expressway, which would span 50 miles of northwestern Indiana.

Daniels and Indiana Department of Transportation officials have said the two tollways would relieve congestion and fuel economic growth in surrounding areas. The Senate passed the proposal 36-13.

Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, said the projects could help relieve traffic problems without using tax money.

"There isn't public money available to build these badly needed projects," said Wyss, the bill's sponsor.

But Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, said lawmakers should have more oversight over the tollways' development.

"The only authority that the Legislature has in determining anything to do with the commerce connector or any future toll road is gone with the passage of this bill," Simpson said.

The bill could face significant hurdles in the House, which Democrats now control, 51-49. Legislation that allowed Daniels to lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign, private venture passed the House last year, but Republicans had a 52-48 edge then and not a single House Democrat voted for the bill.

Democrats said that was a bad financial deal and argued the state should not turn over a major asset to a private company, which they predicted would increase tolls continuously to make a big profit.

When Daniels announced the Indiana Commerce Connector in November, he said the state could collect about $1 billion by allowing a private entity to pay to build and operate it as a tollway looping east and south of Indianapolis.