SPRINGFIELD - With unemployment numbers up across the state, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday blamed House lawmakers for not putting people to work by paying for a huge state construction program.

Lawmakers and Blagojevich have been debating for more than a year the various ways to pay for billions of dollars in fixes to the state's roads, bridges and schools. A construction plan could create thousands of jobs.

Blagojevich used newly released numbers showing increased unemployment in the state's metro areas to dig House lawmakers in particular.

"Yet even in the face of soaring unemployment, the Illinois House has stalled the jobs plan that would put hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans to work," the governor said.

House lawmakers, though, say a focus on them is unfair.

"I don't know how he can say that," said state Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan.

The House and Senate have approved various ways to pay for new construction projects that would create jobs. The Senate this year approved a significant expansion of gambling, while most recently, the House voted to lease the Illinois Lottery.

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said Blagojevich should have urged the Senate to approve the lottery plan this week while lawmakers worked on other matters in Springfield.

"Maybe the governor's not able to multitask; I don't know," Brown said.

State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said he agreed not having a construction plan is a problem. He said the issue should be attended to urgently in the same way lawmakers convened in a rush to help bail out the struggling Chicago-area transit system.

mike.riopell@lee.net|789-0865