State finance officials are preparing to "pull the trigger" Friday to raise the state's vehicle license fee and pump billions of dollars into the California treasury, as a new fiscal year approaches with lawmakers locked in a budget battle.

Sources said state Department of Finance officials would determine by Friday that the state's financial condition dictates that the tax should rise, a move that would affect motorists whose registrations come due in 90 days.

The action would end months of speculation over when state financial officials would make the politically unpopular decision to raise the fee by an average $124 yearly per car.

The 1998 budget signed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson phased in a gradual lowering of the license fee, but it included a provision allowing it to be restored if the state has "insufficient moneys."

Polls have consistently shown public displeasure with the idea of raising the fee, but Democratic legislators have insisted on the hike to offset deep budget cuts in the face of an expected $38 billion state budget deficit. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have promised a court challenge if the fee is raised without a legislative vote.

Gov. Gray Davis' May budget blueprint was based on the assumption that the fee would rise, resulting in the yearly infusion of about $4 billion into the state's treasury.

But the Democratic governor, who is facing dismal popularity ratings and a mounting effort to ask voters to recall him, has sought to distance himself from actually "pulling the trigger" to raise the fee. A recent statewide poll found that 58 percent of residents surveyed opposed a full reinstatement of the fee, while 38 percent supported it.

"I have no information at all about it," said Davis spokesman Hilary McLean. "The statute will determine any change in the (fee)."

The state Department of Motor Vehicles legally must send out renewal notices 60 days before a vehicle's registration expires, and it would take an extra 30 days to reprogram department computers to accommodate the change. Therefore, if the trigger is pulled Friday, the increase would kick in for vehicle owners whose registration expires after Sept. 20.

Meanwhile, Assembly Democrats planned to fan out across California beginning Monday -- seven days before the new fiscal year and with no apparent budget deal on the horizon -- to drum up public support and pressure Republicans to agree to a spending plan with tax increases.

Declaring a logjam in negotiations at the Capitol, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson said most of the 48 Assembly Democrats will travel to Democratic and Republican districts for three days to enlist help from local leaders, business groups and others to break it.

"Nothing is happening here," Wesson said. "We're going to go out to see if we can get allies throughout the state."

Republicans immediately criticized the Wesson effort and said they will stick to their anti-tax stance.

"The Legislature should be here, working around the clock, to meet the June 30 deadline," said Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks.

Wesson said he "will be ready to come back to meet at any time" from the trip that comes during the last full week before the July 1 beginning of the new fiscal year.

Budget negotiations have been stalled for several days as Republicans continue to refuse to consider tax increases to help fill a budget shortfall expected to reach $38 billion and the Democrats refused to consider deeper cuts.

GOP lawmakers, who blame Davis and the majority Democrats for the state's fiscal woes, say they will not supply the votes needed to approve a budget with tax increases.

Democrats, meanwhile, say that trying to balance the budget without tax increases will devastate state services.

Wesson said he and other Democrats "want to go out and tell the truth that when you make cuts, there are real consequences."

He said the trips will not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. He said the Democratic lawmakers will pick up the tab, likely with their campaign treasuries.

Education leaders last week launched a radio and print advertising campaign to try to win support for a budget that includes a half-cent sales tax increase.

Also on Wednesday, state Controller Steve Westly said the state had received $11 billion in cash from investors who provided a short-term loan to California to pay its operating expenses.

However, Westly urged lawmakers to approve a budget before the fiscal year begins, warning that the loans "will be the last major influx of cash the state can expect until a budget is passed."