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A government program that helped homeowners finance and install green upgrades before a technical roadblock stalled it last year may be resuscitated by Congress.

Rep. Mike Thompson joined with two House Republicans Wednesday in introducing legislation to protect the government-financed home and business energy retrofit programs that have run afoul of federal housing regulators.

Benjamin Franklin established the nation's first special assessment district when he created the Union Fire Company of Philadelphia, a volunteer fire department. Today there are more than 37,000 special districts in the United States. Local governments use them to pay for everything from sewer systems to sidewalks to mosquito abatement â€" all in response to important community concerns.

It doesn't exactly mark the Age of Aquarius, but amid the partisan rancor paralyzing Washington, two Republicans and a Democrat have joined forces to introduce legislation to revive a popular residential solar financing program scuttled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year.

Rep. Mike Thompson and a pair of Republicans are trying revive a way for property owners to pay for projects like installing solar panels and energy-saving windows as a surcharge on their property tax.

Three members of Congress -- two Republicans and one Democrat -- joined for a press conference on Wednesday to promote The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program and urge the rest of Congress to join them.